December 23, 2021
Katter’s Australian Party (KAP) candidate for Herbert, Clynton Hawks, is calling for the federal government to put a stop to attempts by the supermarket duopolies to take-over the pharmacy industry.
Mr Hawks’ call comes following reports that Woolsworths’ CEO had penned an open letter to shareholders of API—owner of Priceline pharmacies—that they had nothing to fear from a Woolworths takeover bid. [1]
Woolworths rival Wesfarmers—owner of Coles, Bunnings and other retailers occupying monopolistic positions in the retail sector—is also vying for ownership of pharmacy group API.
“A plague on both your houses,” Mr Hawks said of the supermarket behemoths’ attempts to break into the pharmacy sector.
“Woolworths and Coles have almost two-thirds of grocery sales in Australia and dominate the sector, and now they’ve spotted a chance to do the same with chemists,” Mr Hawks said.
Mr Hawks said the duopolies’ bid for API is the “thin end of the wedge,” and now is the time for the federal government to act decisively to prevent corporate take-overs of critical community service providers like pharmacies.
“The free-market obsessed ideologues in the federal government didn’t do anything to stop Woolworths and Coles from sending corner grocers to the wall,” Mr Hawks said.
“But they have a chance to stop the same happening to local chemists,” Mr Hawks said.
Mr Hawks said the combined market power of Woolworths and Coles would crush independent and locally-owned chemists.
Mr Hawks said the supermarkets are using corporate take-overs as a way to get around the pharmacy ownership rules safeguarding locally-owned and operating chemists, and which would naturally prevent oligopolies in the industry from emerging.
“The big supermarkets, once they got to where they are, did everything in their power to stop smaller competitors from taking market share,” Mr Hawks said.
“Australian state and territory laws mean that only a pharmacist can own a pharmacy,” Mr Hawks said.
“Everyone who goes to a pharmacy knows that the person up behind the big counter is the owner of the business, and a member of the community,” Mr Hawks said.
“Chemists are not like any other kind of retail business,” Mr Hawks said.
Mr Hawks said the supermarket duopolies are “wolves in sheep’s clothing” and can’t be trusted to act in the best interests of the Australian public.