I am extremely disappointed at today’s comments by ACCC Petrol Commissioner Joe Dimasi who says he does not see anything wrong with the 40 cent per litre promotion offered by Coles and Woolworths last week.
It is astounding that the ACCC Petrol Commissioner could not find anything wrong with what was in my view nothing less than a carefully designed gimmick designed to target the independents.
It’s clear that the independent petrol retailers had no hope of being able to match the 40 cent per litre discount, given that both Coles and Woolworths were deeply subsidising the petrol discount through grocery prices.
With food inflation in Australia running at over three times the annual inflation rate it is of extreme concern that Australian consumers are paying some of the highest grocery prices in the OECD.
What consumers needed to hear from Mr Dimasi was answers as to why Australian’s are paying higher grocery prices because of the market power of the supermarket duopolist.
I am also concerned that comments made by the ACCC Petrol Commissioner, that these are one off promotions, is a simplistic view of what ultimately is a tactic by the major supermarket chains to increase their dominance of the petrol market in the same way they have come to dominate the grocery market.
It is particularly disappointing that the ACCC Petrol Commissioner does not appear to appreciate the important role played by the independents to keep petrol and grocery prices down.
These independents are critical to competition as once they are driven from the market petrol prices will go up in the same way as we are seeing grocery prices go up.
I call on the ACCC Petrol Commissioner Mr Dimasi to ensure that is a continuing presence of vibrant independents and to ensure that independents get as many of the Mobil service stations earmarked for sale to Caltex as possible.
I also call on the Commissioner to investigate whether grocery prices in Australia are being further inflated to cross subsidise these so called discount programs by Coles and Woolworths.
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