Consumer advocates respond to today's announcement that the Albanese government will lock remote grocery prices to city prices.
Quotes attributable to Lynda Edwards, Director of First Nations Policy at Financial Counselling Australia:
"Financial counsellors and capability workers welcome this initiative. It recognises the fact that First Nations people are paying far too much for essential grocery items in remote areas."
"We also need a mandatory code of practice for stores operating in remote areas, so they are forced to do the right thing by their communities. There also needs to be stricter enforcement of the Unit Pricing Code by the ACCC."
"If Australia is serious about Closing the Gap, food security for First Nations people must be a priority. They are paying premium prices in remote areas for food and groceries that are often substandard and are then left with little or no money for other household expenses. It's got to stop."
Quotes attributable to Bettina Cooper, Senior Financial Counsellor and Strategy Lead at Mob Strong Dept Help, Financial Rights Legal Centre
"It is really good to see the Albanese Government tackling issues of access to affordable food in remote communities."
"For the 15%, or 150,900, First Nations peoples living in remote and very remote areas, the first Close the Gap goal to ensure everyone lives long and healthy lives can only be achieved when food security is achieved."
"According to the ABS the majority of remote First Nations communities are in the most disadvantaged socio-economic areas in Australia. We know First Nations consumers living in these communities have very limited options about where to shop and the plan to lock prices for essential items in some 76 remote stores will make a big difference to those communities."
Quotes attributable to Martina Kingi, First Nations Development Manager at the Indigenous Consumer Assistance Network
"We are pleased to finally see the government take action on the long-standing problem of food insecurity and high costs in remote First Nations communities. It is great to see that the government has acknowledged the link between food insecurity and poor health outcomes in these communities. It will be critical to the success of this scheme to ensure it is well monitored and enforced and that people in communities know who they can complain to if they experience problems with their local store."
Quotes attributable to Rosie Thomas, Director of Campaigns at CHOICE:
"We are pleased to see the government has promised to lock certain grocery prices in remote areas to prices in cities. Our investigation in October last year found that groceries in some remote First Nations communities cost more than twice as much when compared to capital cities. Action on grocery prices is urgently needed to assist people living in these communities."
"Access to food and groceries at fair prices is a nationwide issue, but our investigation highlighted that food security and extremely high grocery prices are far more prevalent in remote communities. Our October investigation found that in capital cities you'll pay on average $4.87 for a kilo of apples, for example, while apples at a remote West Daly store would set you back $9.10 per kilo."
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