For years, big retailers have competed at the check-out while tightening the screws on those who stock their shelves and boosting their profits. It's a far cry from the price-fixing tactics of Visy and Richard Pratt — but it seems the jig is up.
A legend of the Melbourne football and business world, Richard Pratt – then the richest man in the country – was lauded by at a state service by a host of dignitaries including then-prime minister Kevin Rudd and premier John Brumby.
But the penalties say much more about how lax Australia is when it comes to corporate power and its abuse. Just ask Christopher Lischewski, former chief executive officer and president of Bumble Bee Foods LLC, who was recently released from prison afterPerhaps it's the intense focus on price fixing. But when it comes to our big supermarkets and other big retailers, it appears they have shifted tactics.
From the ruthless expansion into alcohol by buying up smaller rivals – known as creeping takeovers – to the milk wars that created upheaval in the dairy sector, toSuppliers of garden plants to Australia's biggest hardware chain Bunnings say the company's contracts are so onerous that the resulting stress has broken up marriages and left some feeling like "slaves" and "serfs".
Coopers Brewing last year complained its floor and shelf space had been cut by the two retail giants where it now accounted for just four per cent of floor stock. At independent liquor stores, it was double that. Not only that, firms should earn just enough to stay in business. Any more, or excess profits, and other firms will enter the market and keep prices down.Australia may be a competitive nation on the sporting field, but our corporate giants have a habit of taking out smaller rivals before they can challenge their supremacy. New laws are aiming to make that a little bit harder to do.
Richard Pratt Dick Pratt Bluescope Steel Corporate Regulation Cartel Cardboard Cartel Amcor Accc Supermarkets Coles Woolworths Price Fixing Market Power Corporate Power Duopoly
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