Greens’ public supermarket plan just won't work |
The Greens’ official research think tank has proposed forcing Woolworths and Coles to sell 200 stores as a first step to creating a national chain of 624 publicly owned supermarkets.
The Green Institute’s proposal aims to cut household bills by 22 per cent, or about $60 a week for an average four-person household. The institute claims so-called Fair Go Grocers could become self-funding within six years.
The projected cost would be $25.1 billion over five years – which is more than the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme currently costs the federal government each year.
The proposal follows a recent announcement by New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani to establish a small network of affordable, publicly owned supermarkets.
But how similar are these two proposals? And, more importantly, do the economics in this new Australian proposal stack up?
What is ‘Fair Go Grocers’?
The Green Institute’s eight-page proposal is to create “Fair Go Grocers” – a federal government-owned supermarket chain intended to challenge the Coles-Woolworths duopoly and reduce grocery prices.
The proposal has not been formally endorsed by the Australian Greens, but new leader David Shoebridge says publicly owned supermarkets should be considered.
Deputy leader Steph Hodgkins-May shared the proposal on social media, declaring “let’s get on with it!”.
Proposed new divestiture powers would force Coles and Woolworths to sell 200 stores and three distribution centres to Fair Go Grocers. The government would build a further 424 stores and 10 distribution centres.
The chain would operate without a........