Media Release

Federal Member for Kennedy and KAP Leader Bob Katter today applauded the ACCC for its battle against Coles after the supermarket giant was fined $2.5 million by the Federal Court for falsely advertising bread products as "freshly baked" and "baked today".

The fine comes after a ruling by the Court in September 2014 that Coles be banned for three years from advertising its bread as made or baked on the day it was sold. In some instances the bread products had reportedly been baked in Ireland and then frozen months before sale in Australian stores.

“We applaud the ACCC for taking up the fight against the supermarket giants,” Mr Katter said.

“The Australian people had spat upon the ACCC until the last two years. It was previously an institution that mopped up hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayers’ money and picked on the little people.

“But now, they’re turning on the giants. And we can all be reminded of the little shepherd boy who knew how to use a slingshot. We’ve revered his name for 2,500 years of history after he knocked out the goliath of that time.”

But Mr Katter said that he did not expect a leopard to quickly change its spots.

“It is extraordinary that Coles would advertise the bread as ‘fresh’ when it was made, partially baked and then frozen some months earlier overseas.

“Why would they do this? Well as the great economist John Quiggin said, because they can.”

Mr Katter said that inquiries into food pricing in Australia found that under statutory marketing and arbitration there was on average a markup of 80 per cent on essential foods. However in a de-regulated market that switched to over 200 per cent.

“A free market is when corporations feel free to ‘mark-up’ to whatever price they feel like.

“This judgement today confirms that we need to head off the untrammelled greed of the supermarket giants.

“If not, farmers and the future of our Australian agriculture are doomed,” Mr Katter said.