Aldi has joined Woolworths in opting not to sell Australia Day merchandise ahead of the national holiday, which marks the arrival of the First Fleet on Jan. 26, 1788.
The supermarket giants will not sell themed items like thongs before Jan. 26 this year, despite stocking such products in previous years.
It comes as opposition leader Peter Dutton encouraged shoppers to boycott Woolworths Group over deciding not to sell the themed merchandise in over a thousand stores and more than 150 Big Ws nationwide.
“I would advise very strongly to take your business elsewhere and go to IGA or Coles. I think until we get common sense out of a company like Woolworths, I don’t think they should be supported by the public.”
Further, he requested that Woolworths CEO Brad Banducci announce a reversal of the decision.
“It’s a bad decision, it damages Woolworths, it embarrasses the employees, and I think the Prime Minister, frankly, needs to call it out because these CEOs do believe that by making these crazy decisions, somehow they’re signing up to the woke agenda of Anthony Albanese and pleasing the union bosses in the super funds who invest into these big companies.”
The government has since criticised Mr. Dutton for “always” attempting to initiate a culture war.
Cabinet minister Murray Watt said the Liberal leader was out of touch with the concerns of regular Australians dealing with cost of living pressures and high food prices.
“It is an extraordinary statement from Peter Dutton ... his desire to always be negative, always be divisive, divide Australians, find political point scoring opportunities, rather than trying to bring the country together,” he said.
“Our government is focused on supermarket prices. Peter Dutton is focused on the thongs supermarkets sell.”
Federal Labor has pledged to utilise every possible approach to lower grocery prices and appointed former Labor Minister Craig Emerson to lead a review of the current code of conduct for the food and grocery industry.
“We’ve appointed Craig Emerson just this week to conduct that review of the food and grocery code, which is all about the conduct of supermarkets when it comes to their customers and their suppliers,” Mr. Watt said.
It comes after Greens Senator Nick McKim alleged that Coles and Woolworths, which held about 65 percent of Australia’s grocery market in the 2021-2022 financial year, made billions in profits through price gouging in a living cost crisis.
Nationals frontbencher Barnaby Joyce said Woolworths should focus on reducing prices to help Australians.
Woolworths Prioritises Diverse Food Offerings for Australia Day
A Woolworths Group spokesperson told The Epoch Times their primary focus is providing customers with diverse food and produce for all occasions, including Australia Day, as food constitutes the core of their grocery business.“We know many people like to use this day as a time to get together, and we offer a huge variety of products to help customers mark the day as they choose,” the spokesperson said.
“While Australian flags are sold within BIG W all year round, we don’t have any additional themed merchandise available to purchase in-store in our Supermarkets or BIG W ahead of Australia Day,” the spokesperson said, adding there’s been a gradual decline in demand for themed merchandise from stores over recent years.
The Epoch Times understands Woolworth’s physical stores don’t offer extra Australia-themed items, although My Deal, a part of Woolworths Group, still sells some themed products online through third-party sellers.
Meanwhile, a Coles spokesperson told The Epoch Times that they are stocking a limited range of Australian-themed summer merchandise.
“We are stocking a small range of Australian-themed summer entertaining merchandise throughout January, which is popular with our customers for sporting events such as the cricket and tennis, as well as for the Australia Day weekend,” the spokesperson said.
This follows broader discussions about January 26 and its varying meanings across the community.
The national date has been controversial, and often, it’s labelled “Invasion Day.”
Some major employers now allow workers to take a day off on an alternative date.
Last year, Woolworths allowed office teams to choose not to work on the day, but it caused confusion and drew criticism from team members.
Woolworths clarified that retail teams can choose to work on the day if scheduled, following the policy for all public holidays. Other teams in support offices will observe the public holiday.
