: It’s been great to be able to catch up with Katie, Xavier and Nat and their children and to have an opportunity to talk about the impact that people are talking about around the suburbs and towns the whole way around Australia, which is how shoppers and consumers should get a fair deal. That’s why we’re cracking down on supermarkets, because supermarkets haven’t been doing the right thing. We have the ACCC, are taking Woolworths and Coles to court, alleging over 500 different product rip-offs, where sales prices are put up, then they’re put down by half the amount, and it simply isn’t the right deal for them. It’s not really cheaper. The other issue, which is there, is the issue of sizes of supermarket products going down. So people expect a 500 gram product, all of a sudden becomes 400 grams, but it’s at the same price. It’s called shrinkflation, and it needs to be addressed as well. So we’re providing $30 million of additional funding for the watchdog to make sure that they, the ACCC, can clamp down on supermarkets and make sure that consumers are getting a fair deal. When there’s cost of living pressures, people are looking for value when they shop on the weekend and they expect when they see a “special” sign for it to be cheaper. That’s not unreasonable. The other thing that we’re doing, of course, is introducing a mandated Code of Conduct. At the moment, it’s voluntary whether supermarkets are doing the right thing. We want to mandate it to make sure that customers are getting a good deal. And today, here in Bayswater, we’ve been talking with families, local families, with Mary Doyle, the local member, about what they expect from the supermarkets, and our action has been welcomed by everyone we’ve spoken to today.
JOURNALIST: Other than fines and mandating things, is there something else you’d like to see the ACCC do to ensure the supermarkets are doing the right thing?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we want to make sure that they crack down and that customers get better value. The other thing we’re doing is that CHOICE is being funded, and one of the couples who we spoke to today have looked at the work that CHOICE have done, showing where the best prices are. When people are under financial pressure, they’re looking for that value, and they expect some level of trust with supermarkets as well, so that when things are designated to be a special, they are actually on special and they are cheaper. We want customers to get the best deals possible, and we want supermarkets to do the right thing. Now, if they won’t do the right thing voluntarily, we’ll mandate to make sure they do do the right thing and give the ACCC the power to clamp down on behalf of consumers.
JOURNALIST: Will the Australian Government be putting on any charter flights to evacuate Australians out of Lebanon?
PRIME MINISTER: What we’re doing is looking at all the measures that are available at our disposal. But we say this as well. We repeat the call for Australians who are in Lebanon to come home. There are still commercial opportunities available. We’ve been saying for months that it is time to leave. It is certainly time to leave now when those opportunities are available, and at the moment, there are some commercial opportunities available, and we want Australians to take up that opportunity to come home to safety.
JOURNALIST: How concerned are you that people are so publicly mourning the death of the Hezbollah leader?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, there’s no place for mourning a terrorist leader, and we’re very concerned about some of the terrorist symbols. It’s completely unacceptable. And people – Hezbollah and other terrorist organisations, Hamas, they do nothing to advance the interests of the people that they purport to represent, and that is why it’s completely unacceptable, and that’s why Tony Burke has taken the action that he has. That’s why the AFP and the authorities will investigate – any use of terrorist symbols will be investigated by the security agencies, as is appropriate.
JOURNALIST: First day of the Queensland election. Will you pop up for a visit at all to campaign?
PRIME MINISTER: I have no I have no doubt that I will be in Queensland as I am regularly. And it is the first day of an election. Here in Australia, of course, democratic process is very important. We should cherish our democracy. And over the next coming weeks, of course, Queenslanders will be out there being lobbied by all sides of politics. Of course, I hope that my friend Steven Miles is successful as the Premier. We saw what happened last time the LNP got into power in Queensland, which is tens of thousands of jobs disappeared in education, in health, in services, and I don’t want to see that happen.
