It reinforces the findings of The Australia Institute, which has repeatedly shown that inflation is being driven by price gouging and obscene corporate profits – not consumers earning and spending too much.
In the Coles case, the court found that the prices of many products promoted as part of its high profile "down down" campaign did not feature a genuinely lower price, which was misleading to customers.
"The Federal Court has found what Australian shoppers have known for years – supermarkets use fake discounts to rip them off," said Greg Jericho, Chief Economist at The Australia Institute, who gave evidence to an inquiry into price gouging, commissioned by the ACTU.
"In one case, they took a product which had been $4 for nearly a year, put the price up to $6 for a week, put it down to $4.50 then promoted it as a 'down down' discount. This is shameful behavior and Coles should be made to pay for this abject dishonesty.
"But anyone who thinks Coles is the only one who's been doing this sort of thing is kidding themselves.
"Australians are being gouged every day by some of the biggest companies in the country who only have a couple of competitors – that do exactly the same thing.
"These companies are driven by one thing – massive profits.
"While Australians have been squeezed over and over and over in recent years, supermarkets, banks, airlines and others have continued posting multi-billion dollar profits.
"It's these profits which have been driving inflation, not the spending of ordinary Australians. But the Reserve Bank has punished Australian home buyers by increasing interest rates.
"Now the courts need to punish Coles and all the other big corporations who do exactly the same thing. Woolworths should be very nervous today."
