eve
Apr 25th, 2006, 10:53 AM
Federal Agriculture Minister Peter McGauran has been accused of breaking an election promise by not including the big supermarkets in a mandatory code of conduct for the fruit and vegetable sector. Despite concerns within his own party, Mr McGauran is expected to take the code to Cabinet tomorrow.
Member for Mallee John Forrest says the Government may as well not have the code at all if it does not include the big retailers.
The Government also faces a legal challenge from wholesale markets who are included in the code. Central Markets Assn spokesman Andrew Young says the current plan gives supermarkets an unfair advantage over market wholesalers.
But now Mr McGauran denies he is breaking an election promise and says the code was never meant to include retailers like Coles and Woolworths. "Retailers were never part of the election commitment which was written down," he said.
Nowadays, at least where I live, most people shop at Coles or W/wths, though I find their fruit very expensive. Once a week there's a street market, but can the stuff stay fresh the whole week?
Member for Mallee John Forrest says the Government may as well not have the code at all if it does not include the big retailers.
The Government also faces a legal challenge from wholesale markets who are included in the code. Central Markets Assn spokesman Andrew Young says the current plan gives supermarkets an unfair advantage over market wholesalers.
But now Mr McGauran denies he is breaking an election promise and says the code was never meant to include retailers like Coles and Woolworths. "Retailers were never part of the election commitment which was written down," he said.
Nowadays, at least where I live, most people shop at Coles or W/wths, though I find their fruit very expensive. Once a week there's a street market, but can the stuff stay fresh the whole week?