It's bad enough that they dig up hasbeen politicians; but a hasbeen bureaucrat is the dizzy limit. The man was a pain in the backside when he was in the job.

I am no fan of Big Business - especially Woke Big Business - but I think all this ‘doing it tough’ stuff is nonsense, and a ruse to have Big Government get bigger, ‘saving’ us, but actually getting more control over us.

The same amount of money I had for housekeeping 12 months ago is still feeding me well and providing a decent lunch on shopping day. No need for government interference. The government scare-mongering is not working for people who take responsibility for themselves and their spending.

The ‘gouging’, ‘hard up poor you’ narrative is just more of a Marxist government trying to run people's lives.

We've always paid a 30% premium at the checkout, due to foreign investment and their, par for the course, price gouging. That said, most of the recent astronomical price increases, have their origin in the massively increased cost of energy and a bonehead response by labor welded to coal-fired power. The answer is an ASAP transition to nuclear power. as MSR thorium/nuclear waste burners. No other solution comes halfway close!
Alan B.

Who wants nuclear power in their back yard which a impossibility. They can't even get a storage going for waste. so come up with something else.
The CEO of Woolworths has fallen on the sword of his making. The CEO of Coles I believe is not far behind also.
There needs to be more players on the field to put an end to corruption.
Where has a duo monopoly ever worked for customers, shareholders only

Thanks GY for the article- very detailed. Yes productivity balances the budget- you can't spend more than you earn for long. A corollary seems to be the more complex and diverse the society the more cost to produce. I suggest that everyone buy in bulk, preserve their perishable food for long term durable food stuffs. This will also insulate against price shocks and supply issues. Minimize perishable food costs such as waste and refrigeration. Move out of the cities to minimize rent. It seems also that higher vaccination requirements in government work have forced the unvaxed out of long serving government sector work into unemployment pushing up labour and unemployment costs and reducing tax- under utilizing resources. As GY said red tape is causing increased costs to productivity while providing minimal benefit. Well Saul Alinsky and others have said that Marxists should stop normal society from being able to function so that the public look to the Marxists for the solution- it's easier to destroy than to create. At some point society need to see Dialectic Materialist Marxists as economic terrorists and traitors and treat them accordingly.

Yet another attempt to blame anyone else (big business is a choice target for Labor) for Liebor's cost of living crisis.

It's all just artificial complexity designed to fleece people to cover profiteering by those who can not afford to have their lack of merit & their incompetence exposed !
If we had a Flat Tax all the hangers-on would need to perform or miss out. The new Woollies CEO will get some $25 Mill according to some headlines. For doing exactly what ?