Govt which barred small shops from trading early this year now wants shoppers to get a fair deal from supermarkets

The PM two years ago said her government would do it and – hurrah – today it became the stuff of an official announcement.  The competitiveness of supermarkets will be studied to see if Kiwis are getting a fair deal at the checkout counter.

The supermarkets to be studied – let’s note – are the same ones whose small-shop competitors were  nobbled by the Government and barred from trading during the The Great Covid Lockdown earlier this year.

News of the government’s decision to investigate supermarket competition was one of three items posted on The Beehive website since Point or Order last monitored what the PM and her team are doing.

The other items tell us:

• Masks must be worn on all public transport in Auckland and in and out of Auckland and on domestic flights throughout the country from Thursday.
• Tourism Minister Stuart Nash has delivered a speech to the Tourism Industry Aotearoa annual summit.

But let’s focus on the grocery business.