Sophie Conlon
More people in Mount Gambier/Berrin are struggling than ever before according to evidence heard by the Select Committee on Grocery Pricing in SA.
Established early 2024, the committee held its last public hearings in Mount Gambier/Berrin on Thursday, September 5, and Friday, September 6, and would now consider its findings for a final report.
Committee chair Greens Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) Robert Simms said during the Limestone Coast visit the committee had heard from a wide range of stakeholders including primary producers, support services and community organisations.
“It has been a really interesting few days, we have really appreciated the community engaging with the enquiry,” he said.
“We have been seeing all ends of this challenge, we have seen evidence from people from the consumer side looking at what’s happening on the supermarket shelves, but also had evidence from farmers and growers so that has been really useful.”
A common theme Mr Simms found was people were struggling across the board in Mount Gambier/Berrin, with more people reaching out to services like Foodbank.
“All of the agencies that have spoken to us have talked about an increase in community need at the moment,” he said.
“One thing that has come through quite clearly here in Mount Gambier is that the demographics of people that are relying on support services is pretty broad.
“It is not the case that it’s people who are unemployed, or people who are homeless, it’s also people who are working who can’t get ahead and can’t make ends meet because of the spiralling cost.”
Mr Simms said a compelling piece of evidence they heard locally was from Salvation Army corps officer Tim Frost who said in his decades of service he had never seen a crisis like this.
Mr Simms said evidence supplied by a Limestone Coast potato farmer suggested potatoes were being wasted due to tight packaging expectations.
“He said that here in Australia we have some of the most strictest packaging standards for potatoes in the world, as a result that means a lot of potatoes are being thrown out because they are not meeting the standards that the supermarkets are seeking,” he said.
“That’s because potatoes are often being chosen on aesthetics, the crazy thing about that is that you just peel off the skin.
“It seems crazy if we’re in the middle of a cost of living crisis, potatoes are a really good affordable food, a staple food, it’s pretty appalling if so much of that is being discarded just because it doesn’t meet aesthetic standards.”
This, along with similar evidence around consumers aesthetic expectations of bananas heard in Adelaide, worried Mr Simms.
“It seems that something is wrong in our society, when we have got people who are desperate and hungry, meanwhile we’ve got good food that’s being discarded on the basis of silly aesthetic standards,” he said.
During the hearing process the committee asked for ideas the government could put into place to minimise the issue and Mr Simms said a number of solutions had been put forward.
“We’ve had suggestions from people that we have to do more around housing, we had some evidence from people who said we had to do something around rent prices here in the regions,” he said.
“One of the themes that has come through is that people are struggling, not just with food prices, but with energy costs, with housing costs, as a result what is happening, once they have paid for all of things they don’t have much left over so food is becoming a discretionary thing.
“That is a really worry, because we know of course that food is not discretionary, it is a vital, fundamental thing that people need.
Other suggestions, from Mount Gambier/Berrin, other regions and metro areas, included federal support like increasing Newstart and Jobseeker payments, building more housing stock, and analysing the impact of planning laws to ensure there was healthy competition for supermarkets.
“Food is one part of the cost of living crisis, and the reality is if you are not paying as much for your housing, energy or petrol, then you do have more money to buy food and spend on other things,” Mr Simms said.
“But when all of those things are sky high you just don’t have much money left over.
“Supermarkets have a right to make a profit, but at the same times south Australians have a right to put food on the table.”
The Mount Gambier/ Berrin hearings were the last for the committee, which would now prepare recommendations for the state government to consider.
Mr Simms said he hoped to have a report finalised by the end of the year.
