ACT Greens business and development spokesperson, Caroline Le Couteur MLA has described the appointment of John Martin as an expert advisor to the ACT Government’s review of supermarket competition policy as evidence of inaction up to this point.

“The Greens have been pressing this issue for months, always hearing that there was a review underway.” Ms Le Couteur said today.

“This appointment, which is a good one, does however reveal that the review is still a fair way off making its recommendations or forming a new policy.”

“A motion moved by the Greens made clear the need to address the rules around supermarket developments. It gained unanimous support from the Assembly and  The Government agreed that the revised Supermarket Policy was to be released ‘expeditiously’.”

“We hoped the next announcement from the Government on this issue might be a revised policy or at least a report, but instead we hear that things are just getting moving.”

“This tardiness means key planning decisions, which will have lasting impacts on the Canberra retail sector, are being made right now without consideration for fair retail competition.”

“At this stage we’re not sure how long it will be, but we welcome the appointment and expect ‘expeditious’ progress on this important issue.” Ms Le Couteur said.

Tags: supermarkets

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