It was with sadness and dismay I read the news that an
advertisement by the grassroots campaign organisation GetUp! had been banned
from the air by all the major Australian television networks.
Why? Because it criticises Coles and Woolworths – two of the
country’s biggest advertisers.
This is censorship, Australia. It is a direct offense to
freedom of speech and shows clearly how in hock the nation is to big business.
From afar, it looks like big business runs Australia. It’s a
rather dismal thought to have as I prepare to return to live there after almost
a decade abroad.
The stranglehold that Coles and Woolworths have over the
nation affects every person, every mother trying to feed her children, every
father, every person who wants to eat. Why can I buy eight avocados for £1 in
London – where they are imported – and I have to pay $3 for one in Sydney, when
they are grown in Australia? It is now cheaper to have a meal at McDonald’s for
lunch than it is to make your own sandwich. No wonder there’s an obesity
problem. This is not simply a matter of market forces: there are four million
people in Sydney – that is not a small market on any scale. There are an
equivalent number of people in Barcelona, and I can tell you now, that avocados
do not cost $3 there. When I lived in Barcelona, I could buy several bags of
fresh fruit and vegetables for under $10.
Yes, Australia is a huge nation and the cost of
transportation and logistics is high, but not high enough to justify the huge
increase in the price of fresh food that has – not coincidentally – risen with growth
of the Coles and Woolworths franchises. The fewer independent grocers out
there, the more expensive the food. It’s a no-brainer. A duopoly of this kind
should be illegal under Australia’s own competition laws. Why isn’t it?
It’s time to think very carefully, people of Australia,
about in whose interests political decisions are being made. And maybe it will
take a flagrant abuse of freedom of speech to wake people up.
It is now clear that if you disagree with Coles and
Woolworths, you will not be allowed to say so on Australian television. Are you
comfortable with that?
According to GetUp! Nine actually told a journalist
straight: it would be "illogical to ruin relationships with valued, and
long-standing, clients for the sake of GetUp's campaign."
This is the ad that the networks don’t want you to see.
Yes, it’s controversial, but since when were we not allowed to have a controversial opinion?
You can read more about GetUp's campaign here.
Great article Gabs. Thank you. You should talk to Caz about the food network her and her friend's used in Sydney. Maybe they could use our help in some way? They grow in the Sydney metro area and then sell via local independent stores in the City. They have invited Sudanese families to farm their own patches of land to diversify crops. Can't remember the name of it but she will do.
ReplyDeleteThanks Gabsie. A couple of things to consider though: prices are more expensive here (even if you buy direct from farmers) because Australia is one of the few countries that don't provide huge subsidies to farmers. We insist our food industries be competitive in their own right (and they mostly are), but very few other countries do that, which is why fruit & veg are incredibly cheap in Europe - but also part of the reason why their economies are stuffed.
ReplyDeleteI don't like Coles & Woolies anymore than you but you don't have to shop there. I don't. I buy all my fresh stuff from the local farmers market, which has the added bonus of actually being an enjoyable experience. I buy the supermarket stuff from Aldi (a third of the price - seriously!) and that's it. If Coles & Woolies were relying on my dollars, they would have gone out of business ages ago. Consumers have the power - its just up to us to use it.
Thanks Sarah and Katherine for your comments. I understand there are some structural reasons for the prices being more expensive, although the fact that Aldi can sell things cheaper proves my point that it's not altogether structural. (Aldi still makes a profit in Australia.) The fact that the Australian government doesn't subsidise the farmers is another example of how wrong our government has gone. Who does that policy help? Because it doesn't help the poor people, not to mention the poor farmers.
ReplyDeleteI know there are other places to shop, and I love farmers markets and websites that deliver organic produce, but these are choices, and they're not easy, which makes them very middle class choices, and (excuse me but) obesity doesn't weigh as heavily on the middle class as the poor. I doubt there are many farmers' markets in Penrith. The people who lose from all these policies are the poor. When I was growing up, we were taught to be really proud that Australia had the smallest gap between the rich and poor in the Western world. Now it seems that governments of both persuasions will do anything they can in order to widen that gap. Making it difficult for poor people to eat fresh food (by not subsidising farmers and supporting big business interests such as Coles and Woolies) is short sighted if you take into account the effect on the healthcare system that obesity and other weight-related disorders have (diabetes, cardiovascular disorder etc etc).
Anyway, enough of my rant! I realise I'm probably a severe lefty radical (or do they still call us 'bleeding heart liberals there?) whose views would not be allowed to air on network television, but I look forward to some muckraking when I'm back!
An interesting article on America's obesity problem from The Economist: http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2012/05/obesity?fsrc=nlw|newe|5-21-2012|1859601|38055010|
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