Call me a pessimist, but anything government owned that is mildly successful will be sold off by the Libs at the first available opportunity.. imagine if $9b a year from the Commonwealth Bank was going back into revenue, then add telecoms, electricity providers etc
this post was submitted on 06 Oct 2026
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Then just make it a cost centre propped up by taxpayers. You could make shelf prices really cheap. Model it like public transport or public healthcare.
"For half the cost of a single AUKUS submarine we could establish a national network of publicly owned supermarkets that would save families thousands of dollars on their groceries,"
I like that idea. We may not even get the ruddy submarines anyway but still have forked out billions for them.
Why not a co-op instead? Owned by members rather than a corporation/shareholders.
On the other hand, if government subsidisation works well for medication (with the PBS) and university (with CSP places), maybe it'd work well for other necessities like food too.
Like IGA. Pretty sure they’re owned by individuals.
Owned by individual isn't the same thing. Whoever owns the IGA still has an interest in making a profit. A Co-op is like a club where the store is owned by club members. The idea is the store sells everything at/near cost price.
Whether your co-op can buy cheaper than Colesworth retail prices is a different matter.
The Government however can in theory buy products at enough scale to be at a comparable wholesale price to Colesworth - and if they start selling at/near wholesale cost price, it can put pressure on the duopoly to actually compete.
For anyone interested in a few more details: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-10-06/green-institute-proposal-public-supermarkets-break-duopoly/107228700