Greg Jericho
Chief Economist

Peter Dutton said that “Grocery prices, for goodness sake, are up by 30%. That’s not happening in comparable economies.” He then said “it is the fact that when you go to the supermarket, the cost of groceries, the cost of fruit and vegetables, canned products, the cost of cereals has all gone up by 30% under this government”

Well fortunately we have actual figures that can fact check that. And the reality is Peter Dutton is absolutely making up the numbers.

Since the June 2022 quarter (which includes the May 2022 election date) the overall price of food and non-alcoholic beverages have risen just 12% not 30%. Fruit and vegetables have gone up by just 3%, cereals? Gone up just 15% – a mere half of what Dutton is claiming. The only things that has gone up 30% is eggs (thanks to bird flu in the USA)

 Increase since June 2022
Food and non-alcoholic beverages12%
Bread and cereal products19%
Bread20%
Cakes and biscuits20%
Breakfast cereals15%
Other cereal products12%
Meat and seafoods5%
Beef and veal-4%
Pork11%
Lamb and goat-4%
Poultry10%
Other meats5%
Fish and other seafood15%
Dairy and related products17%
Milk17%
Cheese18%
Ice cream and other dairy products15%
Fruit and vegetables3%
Fruit12%
Vegetables-3%
Food products n.e.c.17%
Eggs31%
Jams, honey and spreads12%
Food additives and condiments11%
Oils and fats28%
Snacks and confectionery17%
Other food products n.e.c.15%
Non-alcoholic beverages12%
Coffee, tea and cocoa10%
Waters, soft drinks and juices13%
Meals out and take away foods14%
Restaurant meals13%
Take away and fast foods15%

And what about his claim that “That’s not happening in comparable economies”

Well let’s look at the USA. Since June 2022 prices here for groceries have risen 12% compared to 10.5% in the USA. But prices stated going up earlier in the USA, so since 2020, the average price of groceries in Australia have risen 19.8% while in the USA they have risen 24.8%