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There's a new promise for cheaper groceries with the Senate set to begin an investigation into supermarkets.
The wide ranging inquiry will look at automation and the treatment of suppliers but getting prices down will be the priority amid the rising cost of living.
Multiple politicians had called for action.
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"It is time to smash up the supermarket duopoly. It is time to make food and groceries more affordable for Australians," Greens Senator Nick McKim said.
Nationals leader David Littleproud said things need to change soon.
"The biggest penalty for supermarkets at the moment for stitching up suppliers and their consumers is $64,000 under the grocery code of conduct – it should be $10 million plus," he said.
"The cost of living crisis is now, not in the middle of next year, people are going to struggle to put a Christmas ham on the table."
Along with prices a new senate inquiry will look at the Coles-Woolworths duopoly, the labelling of discounts that aren't actually discounts, automation and technology used throughout stores and protections for suppliers.
"Obviously when people are doing it tough, as they are right now, they look to the government to take tough action to address those cost of living issues and that's what we're doing," Agriculture Minister Murray Watt said.
The CEO's of Coles and Woolworths won't have to attend but after high profile hearings with Optus and Qantas this year, there may be an expectation.
"People will certainly expect the CEO's of Coles and Woolies to front," McKim said.
https://twitter.com/NickMcKim/status/1731090046152040528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
The details will be voted on this week and report back early next year.
Meanwhile, exactly what goes on that Christmas table will be dictated for so many Australian families by what goes on around the Reserve Bank table this week.
With the OECD forecasting rate drops in 2024, there is some hope for relief.
"The RBA is a data driven and at this point in time the data is finally on it's side you've got inflation tracking in the right direction," Rate City Spokeswoman Sally Tindal said.
"There's no question we are at or near the peak. It's been an effort – but it's a marathon that we're almost finished."
