Senator the Hon Katy Gallagher

ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon. My Government has said that we would make sure that Australians are not paying one cent more than they should when they go to the supermarket. We continue to deliver. Today, we are launching the exposure draft of our new mandatory food and grocery code, as well as the amendments to legislation that we will introduce into the parliament this year. We're launching the exposure draft so that we can ensure that there's full transparency about where the Government intends to head. Of course, previously there's been a voluntary code. Quite clearly, that has not been good enough and that's why we commissioned former Minister Craig Emerson to make recommendations to the Government and this is a fulfilment of those recommendations. The legislation that we would introduce would mean that Aldi, Coles, Woolworths and Metcash would face multi-million dollar penalties for serious breaches. We know there's more to do. And my Government wants to make sure that Australian consumers get a fair go. When families are doing it tough, they need a government that's on their side. But they also need a tough consumer cop on the beat. And today the ACCC has alleged that Woolworths and Coles temporarily increased the prices of 266 Woolworths’ products and 245 Coles products for short periods of time before placing them on ‘prices dropped’ and ‘down down’ promotions. These are serious allegations that the ACCC is bringing before the courts. If this is found to be true, it's completely unacceptable. This is not the Australian spirit. Customers don't deserve to be treated as fools by the supermarkets. They deserve much, much better than that. My Government takes today's announcement by the ACCC very seriously, as it's before the court, so it would be inappropriate to comment further, but we will examine, as the courts are able to deliberate. Shoppers are on the hunt for discounts when they do their weekly grocery shop because every dollar matters when people get to the checkout, advertised discounts need to be genuine each and every time. Specials need to be real because household budgets are tight. And I welcome the ACCC standing with supermarket shoppers. Finance Minister.

KATY GALLAGHER, MINISTER FOR FINANCE: Thanks PM. Well, as the PM said, we're out consulting on the exposure draft for the mandatory code. So, this was one of Dr Emerson's 11 recommendations in his review, and this consultation will stay open until the 18th of October. So, it's been very clear the direction we're heading in. It covers off issues that have been raised through the various reviews that have been done, including around penalties and also around retribution. So, what suppliers had been saying about raising issues under the voluntary code. So, it's all there for people to see. And this is a subset in our response to some of those cost of living pressures people are feeling at the supermarket when they go and try and do their household shop each week, because we've already done the CHOICE quarterly reporting, so that the second report on that will come out, I think, later this week. And we've also got the ACCC with their inquiry into supermarkets, which will report next year, early next year. So, this is just one element of a larger response that we've put in place, based on the fact that groceries and doing your shopping is really placing pressure on household budgets. We want to make sure that shoppers and families around the country get a better deal than they've been getting.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, Australians are increasingly buying groceries and household items from shops other than the supermarkets. Aldi, not Aldi, Sorry, Costco and Amazon and even pet shops and things like that. Shouldn't they be covered by the code, given the amount of money households are spending there?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, this is one of the things, reasons why you release an exposure draft. We'll examine that. We are releasing both the code of conduct, but also the draft legislation.

JOURNALIST: The ACCC’s allegations go to price movements that occurred in the December quarter of 2022, which, as you've remarked previously, is when inflation peaked at 7.8. Do you think the supermarket's actions contributed to inflation and in fact, contributed to the Reserve Bank's actions subsequently?

PRIME MINISTER: When you're charging more for products than you should, it of course has an inflationary impact by definition. And we know that inflation is what the Reserve Bank is concentrating on in terms of monetary policy, as they should, to try to get it down to the band of two to three per cent. We know that there has been a moderating of inflation on our watch to half, and I'm quite proud that I lead a government that has seen a moderating of inflation to half at the same time as you've seen record employment growth. We want to make sure that we continue to put that downward pressure on inflation whilst dealing with cost of living pressures. There’s a range of things, factors, that go into cost of living ins and outs, if you like. Ins are wages and we have seen an increase in real wages. Ins is also making sure that people not only earn more, but keep more of what they earn, which is why we intervened to make sure that every Australian, all 13.6 million of them, got a tax cut. I note that the Opposition wants people to work longer for less. They oppose our wages measures. We'll wait and see what they do on child care wages for early educators. They opposed giving tax cuts for every Australian taxpayer. Indeed, they not only have said that they would reverse it, they called for an election to be held on that basis. We want to make sure that those two priorities, downward pressure on inflation whilst dealing with cost of living pressures, assist people, because we know that for many Australians, are doing it tough.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you've opened, I should say you put the exposure draft out today. The Coalition has proposed divestiture powers as a way of responding to instances like that that the ACCC has brought forward today. Does this change your mind on divestiture powers? Would you be open to that as a potential response?

PRIME MINISTER: It doesn't change my mind on it. It is rather extraordinary that you have a coalition, a Liberal Party in 2024, along with the Greens Political Party, that have the same policies of breaking up capitalism. I'm not sure who, if Coles sells their shop, who's going to move into the local supermarket chain. Chances are they'd be divesting towards each other. That's not the solution. What the solution is, is making sure that you have an ACCC with pumped up powers. I note that the Coalition never did anything about mandating a code of conduct. What they had was they've moved from saying, ‘The supermarket should have this voluntary deal where they just sort of cross their fingers and do little pinky hugs and say, all the supermarkets should do the right thing, and if you don't, well, that's okay’. Into saying, ‘We're going to break them up’. They're going to break up airlines last week. This is just not rational policy from an Opposition that, frankly, are putting forward thought bubbles. And we've seen Peter Dutton give a speech today on nuclear energy where months after he said he would come clean with how much it would cost, with all of the detail, we have none of it. I have no idea why he's giving this speech. I assume that they locked it in the diary in advance and said, we're going to give a speech about nuclear energy to, I think it's CEDA, and we'll put out our costings and we'll do all that and they've had a look and gone, ‘Whoops, it doesn't really add up’. Because we know it doesn't add up. That's why, along with part of their anti-capitalism agenda, they're saying that the state should own all the nuclear power plants because no one in any market based system would go anywhere near it.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, going back to supermarkets, you say that the alleged conduct of Coles and Woolworths is unacceptable. Completely unacceptable, I think you said. But isn't it worse than that? Isn't it potentially fraudulent and a misuse of power? What would you propose be done to Coles and Woolworths? Because surely a fine of the companies is not enough and might actually hurt Australians, given the superannuation, should they be returning money back into the pockets of their customers, some of whom have been ripped off?

PRIME MINISTER: As I've said, they're being hauled before the courts. That matter is now before the courts. We've made it very clear that if the allegations that have been made, and they're very specific by the ACCC, are correct, then that's a very serious breach.

JOURNALIST: For Katy Gallagher on the RBA overhaul. The Coalition have refused to come back to the negotiating table and you've accused the Greens of economic irresponsibility on this legislation. Are you going to have to shelve the legislation?

MINISTER GALLAGHER: Well, we remain committed to the reforms. The bank supports the reforms. They're important reforms to strengthen the independence of the RBA and to ensure that it's essentially set up for the job it needs to do in the future. So, we remain committed to them. I mean, this is all politics, right? And, you know, I can't think for a reason why the Federal Opposition would not support strengthening the independence of the RBA were it not for politics. And the Greens are just crazy. I mean, if you think about what they've suggested, they suggest that we do the job of the RBA, basically remove its independence, cut interest rates, and then they'll pass a bill that strengthens its independence. I mean, honestly. But, you know, this is just another example of the Greens and the Liberal Party having identical policies, whether it be on divestiture this or housing last week.

JOURNALIST: Just following up there. Obviously you’re not in favour of the Greens’ request for you to intervene, but in terms of inflation moderating, what do you say to homeowners, some of whom are writing to the Reserve Bank directly saying that they're going to default on their mortgages? What do you say to them in their quest for interest rate relief this week? And has the Government done enough?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, the Reserve Bank are, of course, independent and they'll make their decisions. What we have done, though, is to halve inflation. We are taking a range of measures, including the announcements that we had today reflecting the lower debt as a direct result of what this Government has done. If you lower debt, if you produce surpluses, that has downward pressure on inflation. That doesn't happen by accident. That happens because of good, responsible economic management. And that's what my Government's delivering.

JOURNALIST: The Code of Conduct and also what the ACCC's actioned today, they go to the actual entity, Coles and Woolworths, not the individual directors. Are you confident or would you like to see stronger powers for the individuals who are actually making the decisions on these matters? Not necessarily the exact one the ACCC is pursuing, but any wrongdoing in this space that those individuals are held accountable?

PRIME MINISTER: Well, that's a very broad question, to say the least. Look, the individuals – of course, people are aware of who the company shareholders are in terms of the directors, but also of the executives of those companies. And there is, of course, opportunities for them to be held to account.

JOURNALIST: PM, back to the RBA stuff. You were a senior member of the last Labor Government. A minority government that had to work with the Greens. Do you see a difference between the Greens then and the Greens now? And I know you don't want to entertain the prospect of minority, but how would you approach it if you had the –

PRIME MINISTER: I'm the only political leader of a political party in Australia that's trying to form majority government and that's our objective and I'm confident we will be able to after the next election and people will have a look at the actions of the No-alition. The Liberals and Nationals who are not being responsible are not putting forward serious policies. You know, a modern Liberal Party that was advocating the breaking up of companies, that was advocating nationalising a section of the energy industry sometime in the 2040s in order to delay what the market is delivering now, which is investment in renewables. A Greens political party who vote with the Coalition to block housing policy to help Australian homeowners into home ownership. That is their policy that they went to the election on. What the Greens political party are doing in a range of areas is raising things that have nothing to do with the legislation. The way that Parliament works is we've had legislation – Help to Buy – it's passed the House of Representatives that goes to the Senate. If you think the legislation can be improved, you move amendments and you see whether they receive support or not in order to get the legislation through. What we've had is a pattern of behaviour, whether it be over the Housing Australia Future Fund or Help to Buy, where the Greens political party, aided totally by the Liberal Party and the National Party – remember this fact, fun fact: the only reason why there are Greens political party members in the Queensland State Parliament is because the Queensland LNP of Peter Dutton gave them preferences and put them there. It's the only reason why they're there in the unicameral parliament in Queensland. What the Greens are doing is that they defer votes on things. What that's done is defer the roll-out of public housing which we need. We announced 13,700 in the first instalment last Monday. That could have been built. People could have been living in them now, except for this game playing that went on. And then last week we saw in a Senate only sitting week, them talking to themselves – with due respect to the Senate, which I'm always respectful of, as you know, Katy – talking to themselves for three days. First they voted to put it off, then they voted to put it off for another two months. What for? If you've got an amendment to legislation, move it. And you know who their partners are in that? Peter Dutton. So, Adam Bandt has changed the way that the Greens political party operate. They don't talk about the environment anymore. They talk about some extreme agenda. They seek to divide. And they have that in common with Peter Dutton's Liberal Party, who are always seeking division, not seeking unity or not seeking to bring Australians together. My Government's focused on making a difference to the lives of Australians each and every day. We're focused as well on setting ourselves up for the future, which is what the Future Made in Australia agenda is about. Another piece of legislation that the Greens and the LNP are threatening to not support. Now, I'll be going to Perth very soon, in about an hour or so. And there, critical minerals – our Production Tax Credits on critical minerals. I've just been in forums with President Biden talking about how we advance our critical minerals agenda with the United States and with other countries as well, with Prime Minister Kishida, with Prime Minister Modi. These are important issues. And we have here a Coalition that say they care about the resources sector, that is stopping the passing or threatening to stop the passing of legislation which would pay on success. You only get Production Tax Credits when you're delivering, when you're actually producing an outcome. And so I think that the Greens political party and the Coalition in this new No-alition don't have a serious alternative offer to the Government. My Government will continue to be focused, we'll continue to get things done. And the announcement today about what we've done with the Budget, with our responsible economic management is another example of that, as is these exposure drafts we're releasing today, as is the actions that the ACCC are taking because we have instructed them to make sure they look after Australian consumers. 

Thanks very much.