First it was supermarkets replacing local grocery stores; the local milk round disappeared over night, then the local butcher and fruit n veg shop closed its doors.
Newsagents may still be holding their own to a small degree, but independant liquor stores are on the brink of extinction and petrol stations are becoming a mere branch of the supermarket chains.
Now Woolies want a share of the pharmaceuticals industry.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200505/s1363077.htm
If they get their foot in this door (and Coles will rapidly follow), we can be assured that the PBS will be under even greater pressure from our multinational 'friends'.
If this was about deregulation they would be advocating cross pollination of groceries into newsagents, drugs into liquor stores and liquor at your clothing boutique!!
This is quite clearly oligopolistic greed at its most blatant.
No comments:
Post a Comment