Closing the Gap: PM Anthony Albanese to deliver news on capped supermarket items for remote areas
Residents in remote Indigenous areas will have the cost of essential grocery items capped at the same price as major cities.
The price cap will be applied to 30 essential products such as milk, bread, rice, chicken, toothpaste and toilet paper across 76 remote stores.
The grocery cost lowering was announced as part of the annual Closing the Gap statement, which will be delivered by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in federal parliament on Monday.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.But the speech is expected to reveal that while 11 of the 19 Closing the Gap targets are seeing improvements on outcomes, just five are on track to being met.
Indigenous Australians Minister Malarndirri McCarthy said the price caps would help to reduce the cost of living for many in remote communities.
She said the measures would also address crucial health outcomes.
“We have high rates of chronic kidney disease, rheumatic fever, we have high diabetes. What we want to see is food products that actually assist as well in healthy living,” she told ABC Radio on Monday.
“(It’s) making sure that we are concentrating not just on the costs of food, but the quality of food ... we have a long way to go in terms of trying to improve the lives and the healthy lives, for First Nations people.”
The Closing the Gap speech comes after the federal government on Friday announced more than $800 million for the Northern Territory Remote Aboriginal Investment.
The funding will go towards services such as policing, women’s safety, education and alcohol harm reduction.
Opposition Indigenous health spokeswoman Kerrynne Liddle said it was not surprising Closing the Gap targets were not being met.
“The prime minister flagged last week that we’re going to see no real improvement in this Closing the Gap report in some areas,” she told ABC TV.
“In those areas, we’ve seen the cashless debit card taken away, we’ve seen alcohol restrictions lifted in the Northern Territory. We’ve seen people trying to deal with this terrible cost-of-living crisis.”
Senator Liddle said the pricing of essential grocery items in remote areas was “outrageous”.
However, she did not say whether the coalition would back a similar policy to put in place a price cap should the opposition win the next election.
