Professor Allan Fels AO, former head of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), will chair an inquiry into price gouging.
While Australian households are experiencing a significant decline in living standards as prices rise, corporate profits and executive bonuses are skyrocketing, claims the ACTU.
The ACTU has commissioned Prof. Fels to convene and chair an “Inquiry into Price Gouging and Unfair Pricing Practices” to examine the cause and effects of price gouging on Australian working people.
Recent OECD research has demonstrated that in Australia, corporate profits have been a major driver of inflation.
Supermarket chains have been among the worst offenders.
Leading economists have blamed supermarket greed and a lack of competition for rising grocery prices.
Coles recently announced $1.098 billion in total profits for the last financial year.
The two retail behemoths Coles and Woolworths control two thirds of Australia’s supermarket sector, “creating a chokehold over the prices we pay for essentials at the tills”, said the ACTU.
Origin Energy, one of Australians biggest energy providers, recently announced a surge in profits by a whopping 83.5 per cent. Origin’s gross profit on gas nearly doubled, and nearly tripled on electricity.
ACTU Secretary, Sally McManus, said the inquiry will take public submissions, as well as submissions by experts and organisations concerned with the potential impacts of price gouging.
“It’s only right we take a look to see what’s fuelling these rises and what can be done about it.”