Supermarket profiteering and price gouging

The point of all of the above is that all chain stores, and not only the supermarkets, will use their market power to try to gain something from a supplier.

Have the people who designed the current proposal for a 'code of conduct' ever dealt directly with chain stores? Probably not.

Does the Federal Government proposal apply to supermarkets only (Coles, Woolworths, Aldi, IGA), or does it also apply to other chains (Target, BigW, Kmart) all of whom behave in much the same way as supermarkets do as far as suppliers are concerned?

One possible solution to perceived supermarket overpricing is, of course, the lack of competition in Australia, and the solution to that, mentioned by both the MD of Aldi and The MD of IGA in recent senate hearings, is the availability of suitable supermarket sites. It seems probable that both Coles and Woolworths own many such sites across Australia, with the objective of minimising the risk of enabling a competitor to emerge.

I think the government would be far better served by trying to attract a suitable competitor, perhaps by ensuring there are suitable sites available for supermarket development, throughout Australia, which would help reduce or eliminate voter unease.

Surely there are more important issues as far as the Australian governments (both federal and state) are concerned than trying to create a scapegoat of the supermarket chains.

Ah, but I almost forgot, there is an election due in a year or so and it helps to have another party or parties to blame for high prices.