Peak grocery body rejects Greens’ $25bn plan to nationalise Coles, Woolies in Mamdani-style move

Australia’s peak grocery body has rubbished a Greens’ plan for taxpayer-funded supermarkets similar to those being proposed by New York’s popular leftist Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

Taking inspiration from Mr Mamdani’s “Fair Go Grovers”, Greens Institute executive director and former Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather proposed earlier this week nationalising more than 200 Coles and Woolworths stores in a $25bn plan.

Greens leader David Shoebridge on Thursday seemingly backed the proposal, stating that while the Greens Institute was separate from the party of the same name, he “love(d) the direction in which they’re going”.

“That plan would be to actually start breaking up the duopoly of Coles and Woolies,” Senator Shoebridge told News24.

“If you want to unite Australians in a pub, say ‘what do you think of Coles and Woolies?’

“This sense of anger about this duopoly taking billions and billions of dollars in profit, squeezing up prices, acting uncompetitively, the anxiety people have pushing their shopping trolley down the grocery aisle, worried if they’ll be able to afford it when they get to the checkout. That’s an almost universal experience across the country.”

Senator Shoebridge said removing profit-driven motives, as well as “expensive middle management”, would result in cheaper supermarket prices.

However, Australian Food and Grocery Council chief executive Colm Maguire on Thursday rebuffed the proposal.

“We recognise that cost of living continues to put pressure on consumers and we support a more competitive Australian food and grocery supply chain,” he told NewsWire.

“But Australia needs practical and realistic solutions to these very real issues.

“Rather than creating a taxpayer-funded supermarket chain, the focus should be on understanding the pressures across the sector and removing the barriers that stop the food and grocery supply chain delivering greater value to consumers.”

Mr Maguire said the such a focus would instead “increase competition while encouraging investment, innovation and choice”.

“The key question is which measures will lower costs and improve outcomes for consumers in a sustainable and commercially viable way,” he said.

Mr Mamdani proposed earlier this year for five city-owned, subsidised grocery stores – one for each of New York's five boroughs.