COLES AINT SANTA CLAUSE, SAYS KATTER 22 December 2014: Federal KAP Member for Kennedy Bob Katter today praised Rod Sims and the ACCC after Coles was fined $11.25 million in the Federal Court for supplier mistreatment. The ACCC’s action against Coles was over demanded payments from suppliers to fill ‘profit gaps’ – the difference between actual sales and internal product sales targets. The Federal Court today found that Coles had engaged in unconscionable conduct in demanding those payments. Mr Katter said that in 2002 the AC Neilson series had Woolworths and Coles’ market share at 74%. The Australian Bureau of Statistics had the two at 68%. Mr Katter said that there was no doubt that in 2014 Woolworths and Coles would have had over 85% of market share. In contrast, the latest figures out of America showed Walmart and its nearest rival had only 23.1% of market share. “There is no other country on earth that would tolerate such a concentration of market power, a complete prostitution of the market place. “This is not as a result of Coles and Woolworths’ actions but as a result of government inaction. “Coles and Woolworths are not doing this because they’re bad or evil, they’re doing it because they can. “Coles has previously advertised bread as fresh when it was reportedly weeks or months old and frozen in Ireland. To me both today’s issue and the bread issue is classical oligopolistic behavior. “I cannot over emphasise that it is not Coles and Woolworths’ fault – it is their job to maximise profits. They are not Santa Clause – their shareholders want them to maximise profit. “Until the government addresses the structural problem and stops preaching (and practicing) marketism, these events will continue,” Mr Katter said.
Posted on: Mon, 22 Dec 2014 09:26:36 +0000
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