Will the minister stake his job on cheaper groceries?
No, David Clark will not, but he will stake it on getting “a fairer deal for New Zealanders” at the check-out. But what does that mean and will we see cheaper cheese anytime soon?
Mōrena and welcome to The Bulletin for Thursday, July 7, by Anna Rawhiti-Connell. Presented in partnership with Z Energy.
In today’s edition: a shift in attitudes towards New Zealanders in Australia; Massey suspends psychology training course; climate commission recommends changes to farming emission plan; but first, we’re getting a grocery commissioner.
David Clark says he’ll stake his job on a fairer deal for New Zealanders at the check-out. (Photo by Mark Mitchell - Pool/Getty Images)
Grocery commissioner to be appointed
Announced yesterday by minister for commerce and consumer affairs David Clark, the grocery commissioner will be housed inside the Commerce Commission. They will have the power to issue warnings and issue fines which could be aligned to a percentage of supermarket turnover. The commissioner may not be in place until the first half of next year, with legislation being passed late this year. Hopefully it all moves faster and more effectively than the establishment and resourcing of the consumer advocacy council. As Newsroom’s Emma Hatton reports, the council was born out of the 2019 electricity price review but three years on, does not have any members or finalised terms of reference.
Commerce Commission CEO backs speed of moves but still believes there could be benefits to a break up of the duopoly
Clark made the announcement at the Commerce Commission and was joined by commission CEO, Jon Duffy. As Bernard Hickey reports, Duffy seemed impressed at the speed at which the government was moving saying “This sends a clear message to the supermarkets: they cannot keep making super profits at the expense of struggling consumers” but he also acknowledged it was a step on a journey to fix a broken market. When asked about whether he’d like to see the duopoly broken up, Duffy stalled a bit saying “what I personally think isn’t necessarily…’ and then diverted into the need for further work on the issue, saying there could be unintended consequences but also real benefits to that approach.
What does a fairer deal actually mean?
On RNZ’s Checkpoint last night, Lisa Owen asked Clark if he’d stake his job on cheaper groceries for consumers. Clark said he’d stake his job on a fairer deal for New Zealanders at the check-out. That rightly prompts a question about how that might be quantified. One might assume it could relate to a reduction in the cost of groceries. When asked at the press conference about whether it was fair for New Zealanders to be paying $18.60 for a block of cheese (a price which I will hubristically assume was retrieved from The Spinoff’s cheese price index), Clark was reluctant to get into the details of pricing. When asked whether we would see lower prices, Clark said we were already seeing the impact of closer scrutiny on the supermarkets. As Stuff’s Tom Pullar-Strecker reports, Jon Duffy cautioned people not to expect “immediate changes in prices in the stores”.
Bullying behaviour back in UK and Australia despite code of conduct
Clark also announced the launch of a five-week consultation process for a mandatory code of conduct between major grocery retailers and suppliers, which he said was to ensure suppliers got a “fair deal”. A code of conduct has been in place in Australia since 2015. There’s also been one in the UK since 2010. The consensus seems to be that they were making a difference in curbing bullying behaviour by the major supermarket players towards suppliers. But this report from the Australian Financial Review points to a return to that behaviour amid the price pressure caused by inflation. In the UK, a recent YouGov survey from the Groceries Code Adjudicator (which I imagine is similar to what our grocery commissioner will be) has found relationships between suppliers and retailers have deteriorated. In Canada, where the Green party of Ontario is pitching a grocery code of conduct, a food economist has said a code of conduct is “not a silver bullet to food price inflation".
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Is the tide shifting on how New Zealanders living in Australia are treated?
As Stuff’s Luke Malpass reports, the availability of financial support for New Zealanders who live in Australia and have been affected by the flooding in New South Wales was specifically highlighted by the Australian government in an announcement on Tuesday morning. Prime minister Jacinda Ardern is currently in Sydney and said “I think it fundamentally represents a government that takes a different view to Kiwis in Australia and the contribution they make.” It’s expected that Ardern will discuss the rights of New Zealanders who live in Australia with Anthony Albanese. Ardern also, as described by the Herald, “fired a broadside” at Albanese's predecessor Scott Morrison, saying New Zealanders saw "pretty much the opposite" treatment under the former Morrison government.
Massey University suspends course required to become registered psychologist
As the NBR’s Maria Slade reports (paywalled) Massey University has suspended a training course which students must complete to become registered psychologists. The university is not taking 2023 enrolments for the Postgraduate diploma in psychological practice which, as Slade writes, is happening in the face of a chronic mental health workforce shortage. A ministry of health task group estimates New Zealand is currently short at least 1000 psychologists. Those wanting to join the profession will need to apply for places on other limited-capacity courses, move offshore, or try applying in 2024. As with all health workforce shortages, recent events have compounded the issue but these kinds of shortages have been well-flagged for some time. You can track back to 2002 in health workforce stocktake reports (as I did for a column last year) to find the warning signs.
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Climate Commission says farm emissions plan must be in place by 2025 but recommends changes
As Stuff’s Olivia Wannan reports, the commission has pushed back against several recommendations in He Waka Eke Noa, the farmer-designed emissions plan released last month. The commission has advised that synthetic fertilisers should be subject to the same charges applied to petrol, coal and natural gas under the Emissions Trading Scheme. The commission has also disagreed with the proposal to allow farms to count the carbon dioxide sequestered by on-farm vegetation, such as shelter belts and riparian planting. Writing in the report, commission chair Rod Carr said “We cannot afford to wait - any delay will only set us back further from getting to where we need to be in 2030 and 2050".
Click and collect
Stuff’s Kirsty Johnston looks at the efforts going into trying to lift vaccination rates for childhood illnesses.
Once again glued to the Guardian’s liveblog as Boris Johnson fights on and ministers assemble at No.10 reportedly to tell him to quit. Listening to the business news this morning, investors are already pricing in a resignation.
The Muslim community is seeking reassurances from police about their safety in the lead-up to Eid festival.
Submissions on Christchurch stadium plans overwhelmingly support carrying on.
$18m cost runovers estimated for Rotorua museum.
Got some feedback about The Bulletin, or anything in the news? Get in touch with me at thebulletin@thespinoff.co.nz
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