Farmers are speaking up and are calling on the Federal Government to implement competition reforms that will tackle cost of living pressures.
NSW Farmers CEO Pete Arkle said the ACCC had made a number of recommendations in its 2020 Perishable Agricultural Goods Inquiry that would bring food prices down for consumers, but so far they had been largely ignored.
“We know food is the second-largest household expenditure behind housing, with the Australian Bureau of Statistics reporting a 12.8 per cent increase over the past year,” Mr Arkle said.
“The entire reason the ACCC came to be in the first place was to protect the consumer, and implementing recommendations from the Perishable Agricultural Goods Inquiry would be an excellent starting point to bring food prices down for consumers.”
• Among ACCC recommendations NSW Farmers wanted to see implemented are:
• An economy-wide prohibition on unfair trading practices
• An overhaul of the current merger and acquisition approval process
• Making the Food and Grocery Code mandatory with civil penalties for breaches
“If we are to get in front of the cost-of-living crisis, the government must act on these ACCC recommendations.”