Page 4286 - Week 10 - Thursday, 22 September 2011
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competition is that the Greens do support small business and local business. We have always done that and that is part of the Greens’ DNA.
I think one of the significant issues in terms of how we regulate supermarkets in Canberra is that we largely do this through the planning system. The planning system basically looks at the size of the box that the supermarket is going to live in. That is important but it is also important who runs that supermarket. Ownership does matter as far as retail policy and supermarket policy are concerned. That is something which cannot be dealt with by the planning system as we currently have it in Canberra.
I appreciate that my inquiry will not get up. The major differences between my proposed inquiry and Mr Seselja’s is that I wanted to have a lot more emphasis on those issues of ownership, which cannot be dealt with at present by the planning system. I am not at all sure, given our constitution, exactly how they can be dealt with by the ACT government. But this, I think, is an issue that as a community we need to come to grips with.
We are all aware of the situation. In the ACT the duopoly of Coles and Woolworths has 72 per cent of our supermarket market. Woolworths has over 50 per cent of that. On the south side I believe it is over 55 per cent. There is no economic textbook that will tell you this is fair competition. They will all tell you that this is unfair competition, that the players involved have unfair influence. This may or may not be influencing the consumers in the very short run, although, as I quoted yesterday, the evidence in Australia is that where Woolworths and Coles do not have an effective third party supermarket directly next to them, which is very often an ALDI, their prices are higher than otherwise.
There is certainly also evidence to suggest that it is affecting the prices for suppliers. I think that we have all seen the campaigns by Australian farmers saying that the prices they are getting from the major supermarkets are simply not fair. This is one of the reasons behind the rise of the farmers market. I am a very happy EPIC market shopper but I do admit that I live very close and it is really nice and easy. But this is a major concern throughout Australia. It is that, together with the concern for fresh food and less food miles, that is pushing this really growing trend of farmers markets.
In my speech yesterday I talked about petrol stations being owned by the retail duopoly. I said this was recent. I possibly should have been more clear in my timing of that. I mean recent in terms of it being this century. But it has happened, I think, largely between 2000 and 2004. There has only been a limited change in more recent years, although possibly the more relevant change in the more recent years is that we are seeing the 7-11s moving into service stations. This will influence how the smaller supermarkets and the convenience stores work. I still do not think I have seen the final copy of Mr Seselja’s amended motion, but I understand—
Mr Seselja: It was circulated.
MS LE COUTEUR: Yes, it does not seem to be—I have lost—
Mr Seselja: I will walk one over for you, Caroline.
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