Supermarkets: ACCC handed $30 million to expose more dodgy discounts

The consumer watchdog will be handed an extra $30 million under a fresh crackdown on “dodgy supermarket practices” in the wake of the sham discounts scandal.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will announce a funding boost to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) on Tuesday as the Federal Government steps up its assault on the grocery giants.

“Today we are announcing a crackdown on dodgy supermarket practices,” Mr Albanese said.

“We don’t want to see ordinary Australians, families and pensioners being taken for a ride by the supermarkets, and we’re taking steps to make sure they get a fair go at the checkout.”

The extra funding will help the ACCC conduct more investigations into misleading and deceptive pricing after exposing the alleged practice hundreds of times at Coles and Woolworths stores.

The watchdog is suing the grocers for allegedly running scam discount programs where the price of everyday products was briefly jacked up before it was slapped with discount stickers under Coles’ ‘Down, Down” campaign and Woolworths’ “Prices Dropped” promotion.

That meant the product appeared cheaper when in fact it was more expensive than what it was before the short-term price spike.

Separately on Tuesday, Treasurer Jim Chalmers will signal plans to overhaul local planning rules to unlock land for new supermarkets.

Restrictive planning rules which prevent supermarkets on certain sites, or allow land to be “banked”, are considered among the major barriers to more competition in the highly concentrated sector.

Dr Chalmers plans to work with his State and Territory counterparts to reform planning rules, although details around how it would be achieved and when are unclear.

The Opposition’s plan to boost competition involves divestiture powers that could force the break-up of a supermarket or hardware company, such as Bunnings, found to be repeatedly price-gouging customers.

Mr Albanese opposes the break-up powers, arguing that if one supermarket was forced to sell a store then it would simply be purchased by one of its rivals.

The funding boost to the ACCC comes after the Government last week released a draft mandatory food and grocery code, which carries the threat of multi-million-dollar fines for serious breaches.