Accc

So the ACCC announced last week an inquiry into the sharing of petrol pricing information by the oil companies, and Coles and Woolworths.

Are we to be excited? Well, the motoring bodies came out and welcomed the announcement. A good thing you might say. The only problem is that their reaction is predictable. Sadly, the work of the motoring bodies in exposing the petrol industry games has been very patchy, which has let their members down very badly.

Some motoring bodies are consistently very good in going after the petrol industry games while others have been weak preferring to make motherhood statements rather than getting to the heart of the issue. The problem with the motoring bodies is quite simply that some of them are passionate advocates for motorists while others act more like those politicians who try to be everyone’s friend.

Continue reading "Petrol price wars rage on, with no end in sight" »

Have you ever dealt with the ACCC? Have you ever had an issue that you thought the ACCC should be looking at only to find that the ACCC declined to look at it or seemed to take forever to investigate?

Just ask any supplier or farmer who has had an issue or concern with the major supermarket chains. For well over a year the ACCC has been taking the public position that there’s no evidence to justify an investigation into the alleged practices of the major supermarket chains. Then just recently the ACCC starts actively asking suppliers to come forward with their concerns.

Now there are a few issues that need to be immediately clarified. First and most importantly the ACCC doesn’t need to wait for suppliers, consumers or anyone else to come forward with a complaint in order for the ACCC to investigate. Where the ACCC suspects a possible breach of our competition and consumer laws it can investigate any matter within its jurisdiction and has the power to collect information as part of any investigation.

Continue reading "A lazy government body that needs to get moving" »

Poor old Wayne Swan! He may be the world’s best treasurer but he can’t get the big banks to be nice to consumers.

It’s a bit like the world’s best dad asking a family member to behave or be nice to the other members of the household. And that’s the point. We have four big banks that, despite being valued members of society or the Australian “family,” are being self-centred and not very nice to consumers or the Australian household. 

We then have a federal Treasurer and PM who are supposed to be guardians of the Australian household or economy being ignored by the big banks. And that’s after the federal Treasurer has been so nice to the big banks.

Continue reading "Spank the banks, Wayne!" »

Here we go again. Another festive season and yet another petrol rip off!

A ridiculously unaffordable scenario

Now for some of us there’s nothing new in that - we have simply got used to being ripped off. For the free market theorists and other apologists for the big oil companies and major petrol retailers, like Coles and Woolworths, they like the fact that petrol margins have been growing even if it has been at the expense of motorists.

It’s easy for the free market theorists to turn a blind eye to motorists being gouged as some of the free market theorists may be shareholders of the big petrol retailers or may even earn big dollars advising them. They may even have a company or taxpayer funded petrol card. There’s nothing like a vested interest to cloud a person’s economic frame of mind.

Continue reading "A tip off on stopping the Big Petrol rip off" »

Have you ever driven around regional Australia and found large discrepancies in the petrol prices at different regional centres? Do you ever wonder why petrol prices are different in different suburbs? And have you ever been annoyed that the price of the same item may be different at different Coles or Woolworths supermarkets in the same neighbourhood?

Well, what you’re witnessing is the practice of geographic price discrimination. It’s common among our major supermarket chains and oil companies. At its simplest, geographic price discrimination means that consumers in some areas are paying a higher price for the same item than they would otherwise have paid elsewhere.

There are plenty of examples of geographic price discrimination. Petrol pricing is a well known example. Those who live in the city see it every day when they drive to work, school or the shops. Petrol prices will vary from suburb to suburb with the same petrol retailer charging a different price for the same petrol at their different outlets.

Continue reading "Regional Australia is being shafted at the bowser" »

Are you getting better at distinguishing between political spin and substance? You probably are given the growing number of Federal Government examples!

How can you distinguish between spin and substance? Well, it’s fairly simple when you can spot the obvious signs.

First up, you have the grandiose statement. Some examples include: “we are going to have a tough petrol cop on the beat, ensuring that motorists are not paying a cent more than they have to at the bowser”, “the greatest moral challenge” and “building the education revolution”.

Continue reading "When a politician spins, nobody wins" »

Should the ACCC’s chairman or its commissioners be able to leave their government position on Friday and start work a week later with a consulting firm advising clients on competition law matters?

It’s a good question and not as hypothetical as you may think.

Why? Well, in the dying days of Graeme Samuel’s tenure as ACCC Chairman he announced that shortly after leaving the ACCC he would be joining a “boutique corporate advisory firm.” There Samuel would no doubt be called on to boost the firm’s corporate deal making profile.

Continue reading "Washed-up suits should go on gardening leave" »

Well, the time has come for Graeme Samuel to finish up as ACCC Chairman. His departure will no doubt provoke mixed feelings and for that reason it’s worth pondering some of the alternative perspectives on Samuel’s tenure at the ACCC.

There will be those that will applaud his departure for the simple reason that they believe that Samuel could have done much more to promote vigorous and effective competition in a wide variety of sectors. With key Australian sectors having become more highly concentrated during Samuel’s time at the ACCC, there is a real and growing danger that consumers will increasingly be price gouged.

Samuel doesn’t appear to be too concerned about the growing concentration in key sectors. Free market theorists like to say that Australia is a small market and because of that we shouldn’t be too concerned if we end up with just a couple of large and powerful companies dominating particular sectors.

Continue reading "ACCC boss departs not with a bang but a whimper" »

With the debate raging about the carbon tax and whether the initial carbon price of $23 will lead to any meaningful reductions in greenhouse tax emissions, a new front has opened up in the debate concerning the real possibility that businesses will use the carbon tax as an excuse to price gouge.

Price gouging is already a problem in such areas as petrol, airport parking and even groceries. The petrol rip off is now ongoing in many regional areas and even in the city average petrol prices do not come down as quickly as they should when there are falls in the Singapore benchmark price used to calculate local prices.

Airport parking rates keep going up and visitors to major airports are held hostage to the monopoly power of the airport owners who get nasty with parking infringements if you dare to pick up a loved one from the “wrong” area.

Continue reading "We need CarbonWatch to stop price gouging" »

Are you fed up with paying more and getting less for a whole range of goods or services? Are you getting annoyed with the constant increases you face on basic necessities such as electricity, gas water, mortgages, and even car parking?

With survey after survey revealing how much financial stress that Australian families are being put under, it’s time that all governments, starting with the Federal Government, start doing something about the escalating cost of living.

What can be done? Well, two things stand out. First, Governments need to make sure that they don’t increase taxes and charges and where possible they should be actually reducing taxes. The harsh reality is that struggling Aussie families are being bombarded by hikes in Federal taxes and fees and now face the prospect of new taxes such as the so-called carbon tax.

Continue reading "Time to get serious about escalating living costs" »

Are you fed up with costly political gimmicks by the Federal Government? Well, you should be as those gimmicks are costing you, the taxpayer, lots of money. We all know about the money wasted on Fuelwatch and GroceryChoice. While those debacles are long gone, they are not forgotten and serve as a constant reminder of how taxpayers’ money can be easily wasted.

That’s why we need to be vigilant to ensure that the Government doesn’t waste any more of your taxpayer money. Now there is one ongoing waste of money and that relates to the so-called Office of the Petrol Commissioner. Here we have a Petrol Commissioner at the ACCC that “watches” petrol prices.

You probably wouldn’t know, and perhaps don’t even care that we have actually had two different ACCC Petrol Commissioners appointed. The first left quickly, and the second one, Joe Dimasi, had been a long time ACCC staffer who was up-sized to a Commissioner title, with all the added costs to the taxpayer that a Commissioner title brings with it.

Continue reading "Sack the petrol commissioner - we’re paying too much" »

Graeme Samuel is set to go at the end of his second term as Australian Competition and Consumer Commission Chairman. There will be applause from those who think that his eight-year stint in the top job was just too long for anyone.

Others may applaud his imminent departure as they may feel that the ACCC could have done much more during his time.

History will in due course judge Samuel’s tenure, but as one ACCC Chairman departs another is on the horizon. Rod Sims has been nominated as Samuel’s successor. Sims will now be put under the spotlight.

Continue reading "New ACCC chief will need to tackle the top end of town" »

So the ACCC has allowed another acquisition that over time will be detrimental to competition and consumers.

If you were not otherwise distracted by the upcoming extended long Easter/ANZAC day weekend, you would have noticed that last Thursday the ACCC put out a media release stating that it will not be opposing the Woolworths acquisition of the Cellarmasters Liquor Group.

Now apart from sending out the release just before a long weekend where for obvious reasons less media attention would be given to the ACCC failure to act, the ACCC’s decision not to oppose the Woolworths acquisition is not surprising. In fact, the ACCC only opposes a tiny number of mergers and acquisitions under our existing competition laws.

Continue reading "Woolworths the fresh booze people" »

Well, well, some politicians never cease to amaze us. Just when you thought all was lost with competition law and practice in this country, we have Wayne Swan standing up last week for a more competitive market place by prohibiting the acquisition of ASX Limited (ASX) by Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX).

That was very good decision and needs to be applauded. Now ,Swan has let the side down in the past by allowing bank mergers to go ahead - thereby destroying competition in the banking sector. But on the ASX and SGX deal he certainly did the right thing.

Of course, big end of town interests and their advisers and other supporters will criticise Swan, but such criticism needs to be dismissed for the simple reason that those big end of town supporters have an obvious vested interest in more mergers and acquisitions.

Continue reading "Lower prices mean a cosy club with fewer players" »

With the fate of the proposed flood levy hanging in the balance as we await the outcome of negotiations between Senator Nick Xenophon and the Federal Government, it‘s timely to have a close look at the whole issue of disaster insurance and the insurance industry generally.

A sad reality emerging from this summer’s national disasters is that not only have we been as a nation generally under-insured for natural disasters, but more significantly for consumers the insurance companies are basically a law unto themselves when it comes to paying out on insurance contracts.

As anyone who has tried to take on an insurance company knows all too well, the legal cards are stacked in the company’s favour.

Continue reading "Let’s get medieval on insurance company’s arses" »

Were you watching petrol prices in the lead up to Christmas 2010? If you were, then you would have noticed that the average retail price of unleaded petrol was going up around Australia.

So what was behind the price hike in the lead up to Christmas? Well, there were a number of possible reasons, all of which meant that motorists were generally paying more than they needed to for petrol during the festive season. Some of these reasons, as we will see, also meant that motorists were paying inflated prices in some places.

Let’s start at the retail end and work our way back to international petrol and oil prices.

Continue reading "Why petrol is so freakin’ expensive during the holidays" »

In a shock move today, the makers of Power Balance wristbands have been forced to say they do not actually work.

Since the bands exploded on to the market, compelling evidence has justified the makers’ claims that they help sportspeople focus and perform better.

Some doubters attributed the obvious benefits to the mystical placebo effect, but believers say the bands can increase core strength by up to 10 million per cent using something called “performance technology”.

Continue reading "Evil Government says holograms not real science" »

As the public anger against the four big banks continues, we wait with an air of expectation for Wayne Swan’s latest bank “reform” package to be announced.

This is not Swan’s first “reform” package. He announced one before and while some may have been excited about that earlier package, any excitement quickly faded as that package fizzled and the four big banks continued to thumb their nose at the Federal Treasurer.

Until independent competition and the conditions that allow independent competition to flourish are restored, consumers will continue to be gouged by the four big banks. Here’s a 12 point plan that might help provide a coordinated and targeted approach to the restoration of independent competition.

Continue reading "12 things Wayne Swan can do to tackle the Big 4 banks" »

With Australian franchising under threat from the rogue franchisors giving the sector a bad name and destroying the livelihood of hard working franchisees, it’s disappointing that the Federal Government steadfastly refuses to stand up for franchisees.

Sadly, the Federal Government and, in particular, Nick Sherry, the Federal Small Business Minister, are fast becoming isolated in their blatant refusal to stand up for franchisees.

We have seen Tony Piccolo, a prominent Labor backbencher in South Australia, introduce a Private Member’s Bill to impose financial penalties for breaches of the Franchising Code of Conduct.

Continue reading "Time for federal govt to penalise rogue franchisors" »

As the four big banks continue to act as a law unto themselves it’s time for Wayne Swan to match the tough talk with tough action, especially in relation to our competition laws.

We have some of the weakest competition laws in the world and that’s why we’re now in this mess with the four big banks.

The simple reality is that Wayne Swan and the ACCC have allowed the four major banks to get as big as they. The ACCC and, ultimately Swan failed to stop Westpac from taking over St George and that was after years of failing to stop the four big banks from taking over the smaller banks.

Continue reading "How Swan can actually make the banks pay" »

Two weeks ago I decided to take a public stand on behalf of ordinary Australians. Home buyers, consumers and small business are sick and tired of being taken for a ride by the banks, who time and time again increase their interest rates above and beyond the official movements of the Reserve Bank.

I’ve had my critics - but if that means I’m standing up to a guy who earns $50,000 a day, while the customers who underwrite his business earn $50,000 a year – then I’ll cop it.

A strong banking sector is vital, but at the same time banks have an obligation to give something back to the community.

Continue reading "Hey Wayne, are you still laughing about bank reform?" »

Have you ever wondered what impact our competition regulator, the ACCC, is really having? Well just ask around small business circles and you will hear the word “useless” more often than not. Perhaps small businesses are a bunch of “whingers” or perhaps they are sick and tired of feeling second rate with the ACCC not understanding how small businesses are being driven out of business as a result of anti-competitive practices by the big end of town.

And, don’t stop at small businesses. Ask motorists what they think of the ACCC and its Petrol Commissioner. Ask them if they know who the Petrol Commissioner is and what he does. Ask borrowers what they think of the ACCC decisions to allow the majors to take over St George and BankWest. Again, the words “toothless tiger” are not uncommon.

Now that’s really sad as the ACCC should command respect, and fear in potential wrongdoers. Clearly, the ACCC should be a world class competitition regulator. It’s staff members are professional and many have been there a long time.

Continue reading "Our toothless consumer watchdog" »

Have you or anyone you know owned a franchised business? If not, are you considering buying a franchised business?

More generally, what do you think about franchising as a business model? Well, for many people franchising is seen as a potentially exciting way of doing business.

However, for a growing number of people the shine has well and truly worn off and for these people franchising is a trap for the unsuspecting ; a trap that too many rogue franchisors are setting for prospective and existing franchisees.

Continue reading "Exposing the franchising trap" »

While enjoying a nice Saturday afternoon news came through that Julia had announced her new ministry. Immediately this author combed through the list looking for the name of the new competition minister. Alas, there was no specific mention of competition on the list of portfolio responsibilities. Nor was there specific reference to consumer affairs on the portfolio list.

Now that’s disappointing. Was the omission of an express mention of competition and consumer policy an oversight? Or was there an implication that these were not considered sufficiently important in the new Labor minority Government?

Well there is an old saying that if you have a choice between a conspiracy or a stuff up, then you first go for the stuff up. That makes sense as references to conspiracies usually attract suggestions of paranoia. So let’s stick to the possible stuff up theory.

Continue reading "So who really is the new Labor competition minister?" »

As we patiently await the formation of the next federal government we should pause to reflect on what a hung Parliament may actually mean for consumers, small businesses and farmers.

While clearly a very important issue, it’s one that hasn’t received the attention it deserves. For starters one would have to say that it wouldn’t take very much for consumers, small businesses and farmers to get a better deal. All too often both major parties have failed to deliver real and meaningful reforms. 

There have been obvious exceptions. We had the small business reforms in 1997 from Peter Reith and we had Peter Costello deliver the Birdsville Amendment against predatory pricing. We also have some exciting possible developments in South Australia where Labor State Backbencher, Tony Piccolo, has been pushing franchising law reforms. Western Australia is also fast becoming a battleground for possible small business reforms.

Continue reading "Three cheers for a hung parliament" »

With the Commonwealth Bank announcing a record profit last week you have to wonder if the big banks are laughing all the way to bank at consumer’s expense. What are struggling Aussie families with mortgages to make of the ever growing profits by the big banks and warnings from bank CEOs to expect more interest rate rises?

Well, consumers and Aussie families need to be really upset at the failure of the Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan and the ACCC to protect competition in the banking sector. Wayne Swan and the ACCC just stood by and let the major banks take out vigorous competitors.

This failure has allowed the four major banks to increase their stranglehold of the banking sector to such dangerous levels that the major banks can now just increase interest rates and fees at will.

Continue reading "Big banks laughing all the way to the… bank" »

Do you know that we have an ACCC Petrol Commissioner? If so, do you know the person’s name and what he does?

Why are these questions important? Well, simply because you as taxpayers should know that the Federal Government is using your money to employ a person who was, according to the Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan, going to be your “Petrol cop on the beat.”

When we talk of “cops on the beat” we tend to think of high visibility, deterrence and powers of arrest. On each of these criteria you need to wonder how the so-called “Petrol cop on the beat” rates?

Continue reading "This town ain’t big enough for two petrol sheriffs" »

Federal Small Business Minister, Craig Emerson has taken the Federal Government’s spin and smear approach to policy issues to new depths. With a debate raging about the Federal Government’s failure to respond to the needs of small businesses and consumers, Craig Emerson took time out to reflect on the contribution being made to the small business and competition law debate by this author.

It’s extraordinary that a Federal Minister has the time to reflect on the contribution being made by a particular individual. Surely there are better things the Minister could be doing such as explaining why the Federal Government wasted millions of dollars of taxpayers’ money on a failed GroceryChoice website.

Perhaps the Minister’s time could be better spent explaining why Australia consistently has some of the highest levels of food inflation in the developed world which is pushing up grocery prices for Aussie families.

Continue reading "Craig, let’s discuss your shortcomings over coffee" »

While small businesses and franchisees are the engine room of the economy, it’s disappointing that only lip service is currently being paid federally to their concerns regarding anti-competitive and unconscionable conduct by larger businesses.

Sadly, the Federal Government, through its small business Minister Craig Emerson, is failing to fix the growing gaps in our laws dealing with anti-competitive mergers and unconscionable conduct. These gaps and the Federal Government’s ongoing failure to address them are costing small businesses and consumers dearly.

Instead, we are seeing window dressing federally in the lead up to the election. We have been seeing a flurry of proposed “amendments” that merely give the impression of doing “something” without actually fixing the problems.

Continue reading "Somebody needs to stand up and protect small business" »

While politicians are always quick to say “feel good” things about small businesses being the “engine room” of the economy, few MPs from either side of politics are ready to act to ensure that we have a vibrant small business sector.

Why? Simply because the big end of town is very quick to shoot down any proposal that puts the spotlight on attempts by the big players to drive small businesses out of business in any way they can. Similarly, any MP that dares suggest such proposals is dismissed by the big end of town as some sort of heretic or “maverick.”

Clearly, big business and their hired guns always want their way and they will whinge loudly when they don’t get it. Sadly, they are also very good at making self interested and, even personal, attacks on those proposing stronger competition laws.

Continue reading "Is anyone really standing up for small business?" »

With petrol prices on the rise again and a federal election fast approaching, the Federal Government is scrambling to get some runs on the board. After the Fuelwatch debacle and with the first ACCC Petrol Commissioner having resigned very quickly, the Government’s tough talk on petrol prices has remained just talk.

So why does the Federal Government continue to fumble the ball so badly on petrol prices? Well, quite simply because of their continued failure to tackle the underlining problems. These problems are far reaching and together they ensure that the oil companies and Coles and Woolworths maintain and extend their stranglehold of over the petrol industry.

In fact, the Federal Government’s repeated failure to tackle the dominance of the oil companies and Coles and Woolworths lies at heart of their failure to deliver on their election promise to put downward pressure on petrol prices. Like their promise to do the same for grocery prices, the petrol promise has delivered nothing for motorists.

Continue reading "Why Australian motorists are still under the pump" »

Do consumers want cheaper prices and greater product choices? Of course they do and that’s why it is essential that more Costco supermarkets open up around Australia.

Costco is a US company that operates retail warehouses where people can become members for a yearly fee which then entitles them to shop at a massive warehouse offering products at substantial discounts to competitors.

By way of background, Costco has about 563 warehouses worldwide with around 410 operated in the US, and the remainder operated in Canada, Mexico, the UK, Taiwan, Korea, Japan and Australia. We currently only have one Costco in Melbourne’s Docklands which opened on 17 August 2009.

Continue reading "People get Costco, but does the Minister?" »

With consumers already being let down so badly on grocery issues by Mr Rudd and his Competition Minister Craig Emerson, you’d think that they would do better on basic consumer law issues. Well, you’d be very disappointed as Minister Emerson has presided over a continual watering down of consumer rights in the vital area of unfair contract terms.

Unfair contract terms may prevent the sale of items like this

We know or should know about unfair contract terms. We more commonly know them as the “fine print” in consumer contracts. These are the nasty terms of the contract that stack the contract well and truly in favour of the larger party, commonly a big business. Banks use unfair contract terms as do mobile phone companies. Car hire companies and your local gym also try to stack the contract terms in their favour.

Unfair contract terms are also found in contracts that small businesses may have with larger businesses. Small businesses also deal with banks, mobile phone companies and car hire companies. In this regard, small businesses are also consumers of basic goods and services. Sadly, small businesses can also get hit with unfair contract terms in franchise agreements, retail leases and supply agreements.

Continue reading "Buyer beware cause business is getting its way" »

As we enter an election year it’s opportune to reflect on the Federal Government’s track record on petrol issues. In doing so, it will become very obvious that the Federal Government, like the previous government, has been fumbling the ball very badly on petrol issues and motorists are paying the price.

Let’s start when the Labor party was in opposition.

Grand promises were made and expectations raised amongst the voters that Labor was different to the then Coalition Government. Kevin Rudd, Wayne Swan and Chris Bowen promised us a “tough petrol cop on the beat.” Great, you may have thought! The only thing is that we already supposedly had a “competition cop” on the beat. It’s called the ACCC.

Continue reading "Canberra can do more to cut petrol prices" »

With growing evidence that cosy clubs between large and powerful companies are bad for competition and consumers, the Federal Government needs to act quickly to deal with the ACCC’s concerns on the issue.

The latest push from the ACCC came last week when it decided to oppose the proposed Caltex acquisition of 302 Mobil service stations. As part of that decision the ACCC expressed grave concerns that the oil majors appeared to be engaging in “price coordination” activities.

In plain English that means that the ACCC is alleging that the oil majors are acting as a cosy club when it comes to petrol prices. In particular, the ACCC is pointing to the oil majors conveniently following each other on prices. According to the ACCC this is leading to sharp rises in prices at the beginning of the weekly price cycle and slow falls during the cycle.

Continue reading "Phone tapping powers ring changes on petrol prices" »

With struggling Aussie families paying consistently more for their food and groceries than other developed countries we need to take a long hard look at what’s causing the problem.

First, compare Australia to other OECD countries and there is one fact that jumps out. Australia has one of the most highly concentrated grocery sectors in the developed world.

Just two players – Coles and Woolworths – control 87% of supermarkets over 2000 square metres. They are increasing their share of fresh food, liquor, petrol and now hardware. Their tentacles spread to mobile phones, banking services and electronics. They own enough poker machines to put Las Vegas Casinos to shame.

Continue reading "We need action not excuses from the supermarket duopoly" »

“Have you seen any good examples of greenwash lately? It seems to have died down hasn’t it?”

This question was put to me by a newspaper journalist recently.

That’s the thing with greenwash, it’s hard to spot if you don’t know what you’re looking for. Greenwash is a term given to marketing claims that suggest a product or company is more environmentally friendly than it actually is. The Trade Practices Act forbids misleading claims. But it’s sometimes difficult for investigators to spot, let alone consumers. That’s the problem.

Continue reading "Don’t drink the crap around greywater" »

It’s official. We are getting ripped off on food and grocery prices.

A review of OECD statistics over the past 10 years clearly demonstrates that Australia consistently has some of the highest levels of food inflation in the developed world.

This is a wake-up call for Federal Minster for Competition Policy and Consumers Affair, Craig Emerson. The evidence of the power of the supermarket duopoly is now overwhelming and the Minister must move quickly to inject new competition into the Australian grocery sector.

Continue reading "Mr Emerson, tear down this supermarket duopoly" »

A couple of week ago our competition regulator – the ACCC – expressed some serious competition concerns with Woolworths’ proposed takeover of Danks - the wholesaler to over 1500 independent hardware retailers.

Although the ACCC views are “preliminary,” the competition concerns it expressed should be sufficient to stop the Woolworths takeover of Danks under Australia’s anti-merger laws.

Clearly, the ACCC needs to stop watching and move quickly to protect competition in hardware sector. Indeed, the ACCC can, and should stop, the Woolworths takeover of Danks.

Continue reading "Hardware stores that are anything but Danks" »

One of the Rudd government’s appealing election commitments two years ago was to act on supermarket prices.

Once in power they asked the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to examine competition in the supermarket sector and promised to establish a web site to provide price information to consumers so they could better choose where to shop.

As then Consumer Affairs Minister Chris Bowen said in the first few months of office: “One of the things we’re trying to do, is give consumers much more information, and when you’ve got more information you’re back in charge. When you’re driving around trying to work out where the cheapest supermarket is, then really, you’re not in charge.”

Continue reading "Shoppers getting little value from the government" »

Have you ever wondered why Coles Express petrol stations in adjoining suburbs have different prices for unleaded petrol?

Ever wondered why Woolworths petrol stations have different prices for unleaded across a metropolitan area?

In Sydney, for example, motorists can, on some days of the week, buy unleaded petrol on the lower North Shore cheaper than can motorists in some western suburbs.

Continue reading "Petrol wars: siphoning off Paul to pay Peter" »

Like most Australians, I love to indulge in the endless smorgasbord of foods available in Australia.

But not all people are so lucky.

There is a growing number of Australians with a condition called Coeliac Disease or gluten intolerance who can’t eat many foods without significant gastro intestinal problems and discomfort.

Continue reading "Fixing food laws must be on consumer watchdog’s menu" »

For those of us concerned about competition and consumer law issues there comes a time when the case for action is so overwhelming that we need to the ACCC to stop “watching” and to act decisively in the consumer interest.

In the petrol industry that time has come.

On this occasion it’s the urgent need for the ACCC to block Caltex’s proposed acquisition of Mobil service stations.

Continue reading "Copping a servo: stop Caltex buying Mobil’s stations" »

As a long time advocate of effective competition and consumer laws, one is in no doubt that the enactment of effective laws is only half the task in promoting a more competitive marketplace for the benefit of consumers.

The other half of an effective competition and consumer law framework is an independent and fearless watchdog which moves quickly to stamp out anti-competitive conduct regardless of the political winds.

While of course the watchdog must act without bias, whether actual or perceived, the watchdog must also be above politics.

Continue reading "Rating the independence of our competition watchdog" »

With competition failing or under serious threat in key sectors of the economy, the Federal Government is struggling to find the answers or to make the tough policy decisions needed to restore real competition for the benefit of Australian consumers.

Why the struggle? It should be easy to stand up for consumers. After all, consumers are the biggest group in Society. In fact, so big that it covers everyone living in Australia. We are all consumers!

So why not do the right thing on behalf of consumers?

Quite simply, because the big end of town is so effective in stopping Governments and Ministers from doing so.

Continue reading "Watching the government watching prices" »