Kevin Rudd announced today that:
“…if Labor forms the next government of Australia, the ACCC will be directed to publish a periodic survey of grocery prices at supermarkets for a typical shopping basket, including family staples like biscuits, bread and baked beans.”
The Australian Bureau of Statistics already publishes prices of biscuits, bread and baked beans – and many other household groceries – in every State, every quarter.
For information on the prices of selected retail products by State, go to the Australian Bureau of Statistics at http://www.abs.gov.au/ then ‘statistics’ then ‘by topic’ then ‘prices and price indexes’ then ‘Consumer Price Indexes (Inflation)’ then ‘Average Retail Prices of Selected Items, Eight Capital Cities’ (cat no. 6403.0.55.001). The link to the ABS spreadsheet is below:
For example, in the March quarter 2007:
- The price of a 650g white sliced loaf of bread in Sydney was $3.20
- The price of a 250g packet of dry biscuits in Melbourne was $2.00
- The price of a 420g tin of baked beans in tomato sauce cost $1.27 in Brisbane