The plans,confirmed by three senior Liberals who did not want to be named because precise details have not been agreed and are subject to change,are likely to include court-enforced divestiture of assets as a last resort to act as a strong incentive for supermarkets to act in consumers’ interest.
The laws would focus only on supermarkets rather than economy-wide powers,which the Coalition is worried would spook the private sector. They would be modelled on similar narrowly defined laws in the US and UK.
“We enforced the same rules in the energy market. The laws were never actually used,but the spectre of the ‘big stick’ kept prices lower,so there is a good case to be made for supermarkets,” one Coalition source said.
The looming policy announcement represents a win for the National Party,which has campaigned for the laws for years,and sharpens the political contest over living standards with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese,who hasordered a probe into supermarkets but has described break-up laws as belonging in the old Soviet Union.
In a sign of the antipathy towards corporate Australia within Coalition ranks,former minister Matt Canavan will cross the floor to vote for aGreens bill allowing the break-up of supermarkets,banks and other mega-firms.
Dutton told colleagues on Tuesday that the opposition should not be lending legitimacy to a Greens policy that he believes lacks guardrails. However,Canavan,a former minister turned prominent populist backbencher,said he did not care which party put up the proposal.