Tough talkers

Tough talking part 1:

Albo’s after the supermarket giants, but he’s missed the real battle

The PM’s finally come out swinging on supermarket price gouging. He’s said, “they are taking the piss“. Good. It’s about time someone stood up for Aussie shoppers.

Yet, while we’ve all been watching lettuce prices and milk wars, the big two, aka Colesworth, have been quietly snapping up prime real estate, not to build new stores, but to stop the competition from getting a look in.

This tactic, land banking, doesn’t just hurt prices, it locks entire communities out of choice.

The ACCC’s been onto this. Their interim report showed just how deep it runs: Woolworths has more than 100 sites sitting idle. Coles has dozens more. Meanwhile, ALDI, the little guy by comparison, has barely a handful. Internal documents even show Woolies calling them “strategic sites.” That’s code for: “We’re not building here. We just don’t want anyone else to.”

And that’s the problem. Land banking doesn’t just block competition, it guarantees that the big two can keep doing whatever they want, knowing no one new is coming to town.

The government says it’s cracking down on price gouging. That’s great. But if we’re serious about fixing the mess our grocery market is in, we’ve got to go deeper. The damage from land banking is already done. Colesworth have spent years setting themselves up to win by default, and until we deal with that, they’ll keep calling the shots.

So yes, talk tough. But back it up. Because Aussie families don’t just need fairer prices, they need a fairer playing field.

tough talking part 2:

Dutton needs more ammunition in his briefcase

Meanwhile. Peter Dutton has attacked Albo for being “as weak as water” around the supermarkets.

I’m not sure that phrase will catch on. What about as week as a mid strength beer? Or weak as the English cricket team? He’s already stress tested “limp wristed“, but that one is not politically correct so it’s been dropped.

Here’s a few lines that I’ve come up with he can have for free.

“Albo’s as steady as a ladder on a trampoline.”

“You don’t build a country on bubble wrap and backdowns.”

“When the wind changes, so does Albo.”

“This bloke couldn’t stare down a pigeon, let alone a cost-of-living crisis.”

“He governs like a man worried he’ll scuff his shoes.”

“Every tough call lands on his desk and slides straight off the other side.”

“You don’t need a weather report to know which way Albo’s going, just follow the headlines.”

“If there’s a hard decision to make, you can bet it’s still waiting.”

“He’s more interested in applause than answers.”

“Even when he wears high-vis and a hat, he can’t do the heavy lifting.”

Of course, all of these may make Dutton seem mean, so perhaps instead of name calling, he can go back to divisive culture wars instead.