Xenophon wants GroceryChoice website overhaul

Independent Senator Nick Xenophon will push the Government to overhaul its watchdog website for grocery prices.

Once a month, GroceryChoice publishes the comparative prices of a basket of 500 goods in the major supermarkets in different regions across Australia.

Senator Xenophon says the website should name specific supermarkets with cheaper prices and be updated weekly.

He says he will introduce a bill to Parliament to change the website if the Government does not act promptly.

"Right now, GroceryChoice is not worth the money it's costing to run it," he said.

"It's $13 million over three years.

"The fact that there has been a decline of $3 million hits in the first month to just over 104,000 hits last month indicates that consumers are voting with their feet.

"They're not finding the site as useful as it should be."

Senator Xenophon says the website needs to contain more useful information.

"The prices should be listed on a weekly basis, it should sample 100 basic staples of life and sample more supermarkets," he said.

"That way you get a useful comparison, you get more meaningful information and it will actually be something that will make sense to consumers in terms of making useful and relevant comparisons when they're doing their shopping."

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Wed 19th November 2008 - 07:26pm