Another survey has shown that Australians are enjoying lower prices following the introduction of the New Tax System, the Minister for Financial Services & Regulation, Joe Hockey, said today.
A survey in the December issue of Choice, the journal of the Australian Consumers Association, shows grocery prices have dropped by 4% on average following the introduction of the New Tax System .
The ACA survey, which compared prices nationally between September 1999 and July 2000, collected prices of 32 grocery items from 138 supermarkets in 24 cities across Australia.
The opening sentence of the Choice report said: "They said your weekly grocery bill would drop after the GST - and they were right."
"This is another example of research that shows that Australians are enjoying lower prices because of the New Tax System," Minister Hockey said.
"This is further evidence that Labor's scaremongering on tax reform was a cheap and see-through political stunt.
"If the ALP is committed to rolling back the New Tax System, then what does this mean for Australian consumers? It means one thing: higher prices."
Other price surveys
The ACA's survey follows research from Labor backbencher Wayne Swan whose Lilley Price Watch for August found that prices fell in 26 of 27 supermarkets surveyed in his electorate.
An October survey from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission also showed that 75% of all items surveyed either fell in price or stayed the same. The ACCC's survey collected data from 10,000 retail outlets in 115 cities across Australia including 90 towns in regional Australia.