National was unenthusiastic, but commissioned consultants to report on the proposal.
The report arrived in June. The consultants found there could be a price advantage but conceded their calculations could be wrong.
Foodstuffs disputed the findings, saying there was no evidence that breaking up its business would lead to lower grocery prices and warning that it would reduce efficiencies, duplicate infrastructure and increase costs.
At 2.37pm on 15 September National’s supermarket policy was as described by Commerce Minister Cameron Brewer in answer to Question 12: “making it easier to consent and build supermarkets, improving overseas investment pathways, strengthening competition settings and supplier protections, and backing Commerce Commission enforcement.”
16 September 2026 was a very busy day.
The June cost-benefit analysis was released by MBIE.
Nineteen hours and 46 minutes after Minister Brewer’s answer in Parliament, at 10.23am on 16 September, National issued a media advisory saying Christopher Luxon and Nicola Willis would make a “significant” announcement in the National caucus room at 10.30am — just seven minutes later.
When I was in Parliament, you always gave the media plenty of notice of a press conference. There is a simple reason: television crews must be able to get there.
At 10.30am the finance minister announced that National’s supermarket policy was now to break up Foodstuffs.
What happened to transform the policy?
It wasn’t new official information. When releasing the cost-benefit analysis that day, MBIE said: “The Government will not be advancing any of the policy options contained within this analysis.”
What did happen?
On 15 September, Curia’s average polling had National on 29 percent.
On the morning of 16 September, Labour issued its own media advisory saying it would announce its supermarket policy later that day.
If the intention was to gazump Labour and swamp its announcement, it worked.
We will have to wait to see whether voters think a supermarket policy developed at warp speed works.
The Honourable Richard Prebble CBE is a former member of the New Zealand Parliament. Initially a member of the Labour Party, he joined the newly formed ACT New Zealand party under Roger Douglas in 1996, becoming its leader from 1996 to 2004. This article was sourced HERE
At 2.37pm on 15 September National’s supermarket policy was as described by Commerce Minister Cameron Brewer in answer to Question 12: “making it easier to consent and build supermarkets, improving overseas investment pathways, strengthening competition settings and supplier protections, and backing Commerce Commission enforcement.”
16 September 2026 was a very busy day.
The June cost-benefit analysis was released by MBIE.
Nineteen hours and 46 minutes after Minister Brewer’s answer in Parliament, at 10.23am on 16 September, National issued a media advisory saying Christopher Luxon and Nicola Willis would make a “significant” announcement in the National caucus room at 10.30am — just seven minutes later.
When I was in Parliament, you always gave the media plenty of notice of a press conference. There is a simple reason: television crews must be able to get there.
At 10.30am the finance minister announced that National’s supermarket policy was now to break up Foodstuffs.
What happened to transform the policy?
It wasn’t new official information. When releasing the cost-benefit analysis that day, MBIE said: “The Government will not be advancing any of the policy options contained within this analysis.”
What did happen?
On 15 September, Curia’s average polling had National on 29 percent.
On the morning of 16 September, Labour issued its own media advisory saying it would announce its supermarket policy later that day.
If the intention was to gazump Labour and swamp its announcement, it worked.
We will have to wait to see whether voters think a supermarket policy developed at warp speed works.
The Honourable Richard Prebble CBE is a former member of the New Zealand Parliament. Initially a member of the Labour Party, he joined the newly formed ACT New Zealand party under Roger Douglas in 1996, becoming its leader from 1996 to 2004. This article was sourced HERE
3 comments:
National have unequivocally gone off the rails as a party.....exacerbated by the performance of both Luxon and Willis.
It appears to this 'old bloke', their most redeeming feature is : "we are not as bad as Labour and the further left 'decerebrates' "....no endorsement!
Former National supporters, really have to overwhelmingly give their party vote to ACT if NZ is to have any fighting chance of preventing /slowing descent into the abyss of 3rd world status. Perhaps we have already missed the bus?š³
Politicians, Consumer NZ, most media commentators - all talk about supermarkets as though they grow food, herd cattle and make sliced bread. They are retailers of food and the Commerce Commission established that 70% of every dollar in their front door goes out the back to suppliers. We ignore supply reasons for supermarket price rises, we have no decent official measures to explain this. But we do know Ukraine's war upped the price of wheat, the US drought has shrunk their cattle supply and driven up beef prices and all the world wealthier than us buys our milk products at prices we increasingly find too high because we make political decisions bearing on economics that make us relatively poorer and poorer. The latest annual food price index rise is 1.9%pa, under the full CPI, but the Greens egg on the population with entirely unsubstantiated claims about supermarket competition being 'the' food price problem.No MSM runs explanatory articles about global food price rises - up all around the world and now kicking off again as drought, heat and 'Hormuz' drive up food costs. So National is driven, for political reasons from the Green and MSM 'crisis' nonsense, to seek a circuit breaker for their poliitical food response. It won't happen, even if the Coalition returns. Even Comcom can work out this and other 'break up' proposals are most likely to drive up the level of our food costs with more fixed costs and lack of scale in food retail.
There is currently a 'supermarket competition' play among political parties, led by the Greens with a nonsense proposition, which has garnered so much support National has felt it has to (safely) respond. When the latest annual food price rise is 1.9% and under the CPI, what kind of minds think restructuring the supermarkets to get another player makes a difference? Fixed costs up, and scale down - nothing but odds on rises in the level of prices. MSM and most confuse the level with price rise issues. Ukraine war (wheat), US drought (beef) and wealthy market demand for milk products and lamb are what has been driving up food prices, latterly too, 'Hormuz'. Nothing to do with supermarket structure but commentators almost give the impression they think supermarkets grow, herd and produce food. The Comcom's report said 70% of the money in the front door went out the back one to suppliers, but you can't find a politician or MSM journalist questioning supplier behaviour. There are only two bread companies, jam companies and lots more examples among suppliers.
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