Luke Gosling continues push for Aldi to open in the Northern Territory
Cheaper groceries are not just about convenience—they are about easing the cost-of-living pressures for households across the Territory every single week, writes Luke Gosling.
I have been fighting to get ALDI to the Northern Territory because Territorians deserve what most Australians already have: real competition, lower supermarket prices, and a genuine alternative to Coles and Woolworths.
Cheaper groceries are not just about convenience—they are about easing the cost-of-living pressures for households across the Territory every single week.
Australia has one of the most concentrated supermarket sectors in the world.
Nowhere is this felt more heavily than here in the NT.
The lack of supermarket competition costs Territorians—at the checkout and in their household budgets.
The Federal Government has recognised the power imbalance, giving the ACCC more teeth and funding CHOICE magazine to monitor supermarket prices quarterly.
These reforms put valuable information in the hands of consumers, but information alone won’t fix the structural problem.
Only genuine competition will.
That’s why I began the push for ALDI last year.
At that time, the quarterly supermarket price report showed ALDI’s average prices were more than 20 per cent lower than Coles and Woolworths.
In the most recent survey, the gap has narrowed to just 3 per cent. Why?
Because Coles and Woolworths have been forced to lift their game in markets where ALDI is present.
The Federal Government directed the ACCC to undertake a supermarket inquiry last year which confirmed what shoppers already suspected: Coles and Woolworths have been playing games with “dodgy discounts,” cycling specials on different weeks to give the illusion of competition.
Billions of prices were analysed, and the watchdog exposed discounts that weren’t really discounts at all.
More transparency on unit pricing and shrinkflation also helps and as the inquiry recommendations are implemented we will see greater transparency on prices, price trends and promotions and loyalty programs.
Meanwhile, international competitors are circling. Canadian giant Dollarama is entering the market, and the Prime Minister has encouraged UAE-based supermarket chain Lulu to explore expansion under our new free trade agreement.
If ALDI doesn’t seize this moment, others will.
Territorians should not be left behind yet again.
This isn’t just about Darwin and Palmerston.
Remote communities are being hit hardest.
That’s why the Federal Government is investing $50 million to subsidise essential products in over 100 remote stores, cutting the cost of 30 staple items by up to 50 per cent.
But we need private players like ALDI to step up too.
ALDI says it’s committed to “helping our mates” and tackling food insecurity.
Well—this is the Territory’s chance if ALDI can put their money where their mouth is.
And while we’re talking about supermarkets, we cannot ignore worker safety.
Retail staff are copping shocking levels of abuse and violence.
Other jurisdictions are acting.
The ACT has Workplace Protection Orders—powerful legal tools that ban serial offenders from abusing workers.
South Australia is following suit.
The Northern Territory should too.
Our retail workers deserve protection and respect.
The case for ALDI in the Territory is clear: lower prices, more choice, fairer competition, stronger food security, and better conditions for workers.
Coles and Woolworths won’t deliver that on their own.
They’ve had decades to prove it.
It’s time to break the duopoly.
It’s time for ALDI to finally come to the Territory.
Luke Gosling is the Federal Member for Solomon, and Special Envoy for Defence, Veterans’ Affairs and Northern Australia
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