Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says alleged misconduct from Coles and Woolworths conduct ‘unacceptable’
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says the alleged misleading discounting from Coles and Woolworths is “completely unacceptable” and against the “Australian spirit”, as he unveiled a draft mandatory food and grocery code to crackdown on supermarket giants.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) on Monday said it had launched separate legal actions in the Federal Court against the Coles and Woolworths for allegedly breaching consumer law by misleading consumers through discount pricing claims on hundreds of common grocery products.
Amid the cost-of-living crisis, Coles promoted its long-running “Down, Down” campaign as a lifeline for cost-conscious shoppers struggling to make ends meet as inflation pushed up prices on everyday items.
Woolworths did the same with its “Prices Dropped” pitch.
The claims involve 266 products for Woolworths at different times across 20 months, and 245 products for Coles at different times across 15 months, amounting to “tens of millions” in sales from which both chains “derived significant revenue”.
Speaking from Parliament House in Canberra, Mr Albanese said the allegations were serious.
“If this is found to be true, it’s completely unacceptable,” he said.
“This is not in the Australian spirit.
“Customers don’t deserve to be treated as fools by supermarkets. They deserve much, much better than that.”
More to come
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