One of the things that has me most bemused about the Coalition this year is their continued opposition to and belittling of any initiative to make the retail grocery market more transparent - whether it’s web based price comparison or unit pricing. In concluding a comprehensive post on the ACCC’s report into competition in the sector, Tim Dunlop observes:

One final point for now: on what I’ve read so far in the report, and in the media, too much is made of the conclusion that the market is “workably competitive”. The implication is being drawn is that there isn’t much we can do to improve things and that measures that the government wants to introduce like GroceryChoice, unit pricing, relaxation of some zoning rules etc are therefore pointless. Again with my retailers hat on I would say that the increased transparency provided by some of these measures is precisely the sort of thing that will keep the buggers (like me in a former life) honest.

I can see perfectly clearly that the Liberals are trying to turn food prices into Kevin Rudd’s version of John Howard’s interest rates deception - implying that Labor promised that prices would be lower under a Rudd government. They’re also trying to imply that Rudd and co are “out of touch” - another reversal of the tactics of the ALP last year. But, speaking as someone who does his own shopping and would be very interested in comparing unit pricing on say, instant coffee, and in whether milk and bread are cheaper at the local Coles or the IGA up the road, I can’t for the life of me see how anyone who actually shops is going to think these measures aren’t, well, good things even if they’re not earth shattering. Nor can I figure out why anyone who purports to be in favour of market transparency - as opposed to the self interest of large retailers - could find all this to be some sort of evil and intrusive government action. But maybe Malcolm Turnbull has a different view?

Elsewhere: More on the report from Joshua Gans.