☕️ Supermarket inquiry findings, explained

If you’re reading this in the morning, it’s likely still a little dark outside (unless you’re in QLD, WA, or the NT). For the other states, we only have two more weeks until daylight saving time is officially over – when the clocks are due to go backwards an hour.

That means only two more weeks of debating whether it’s “daylight savings” (plural) or “daylight saving”.

(It’s the latter, but it still never sounds right.) Enjoy the sunny arvos while they last!

“Mega job, guys. Mega, mega job… That is one satisfying weekend.”
Australian Formula 1 driver Oscar Piastri after winning the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai on Sunday. It means McLaren has won the first two major races of the year.

More than 1,000
The number of flights that had to divert from Heathrow Airport in London, after a fire broke out in a neighbouring electrical substation on Friday morning (local time). The airport, one of the busiest in the world, was closed for the entirety of Friday.

2002
Halle Berry became the first (and so far, only) Black woman to win an Oscar for Best Actress.

Finland has been named the world’s happiest country for the eighth year in a row.

The annual UN-sponsored World Happiness Report ranks 147 countries based on survey results collected by polling company Gallup.

The report noted several Western countries have dropped from their usual spots in the top 20.

Australia has slipped out of the top 10 this year, falling one rank to 11th.

The report collates data from the Gallup World Poll, an annual survey of people from more than 140 countries.

Around 1,000 participants per country are asked to numerically score their quality of life.

Each year’s rankings are then based on rolling three-year average survey results.

The survey analyses six factors that influence happiness: personal wealth, social support, life expectancy, freedom, generosity, and perceptions of corruption.

Finland, Denmark, Iceland and Sweden have been the top four happiest countries, in that order, for two consecutive years.

This year’s report saw Costa Rica and Mexico enter the top 10 for the first time, at #6 and #10 respectively.

The report attributes higher levels of happiness to a sense of freedom, strong social networks, faith in humanity, and bigger household size.

Afghanistan ranked as the unhappiest country for the fourth year in a row.

The report found “life is especially difficult for Afghan women” under Taliban rule.

West African nation Sierra Leone was the second unhappiest country, followed by Lebanon in third-last place.

The report also found that Western nations are now less happy than they were between 2005 and 2010, with the U.S. and Canada’s rankings declining sharply.

Report editor Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, director of Oxford’s Wellbeing Research Centre, said this year’s findings highlight the influence of non-traditional factors on happiness.

“It turns out that sharing meals and trusting others are even stronger predictors of wellbeing than expected. In this era of social isolation and political polarisation we need to find ways to bring people around the table again — doing so is critical for our individual and collective wellbeing,” De Neve said.

Reporting by Achol Arok.

A year-long inquiry into Australia’s supermarkets has found Coles and Woolworths are some of the world’s most profitable grocery retailers. However, the report did not accuse the supermarkets of price gouging.

The peak consumer watchdog, the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC), recommended 20 ways to improve competition and transparency.

Coles and Woolworths make up two-thirds of the supermarket sector, which the ACCC says creates “limited incentive to compete vigorously on price”.

In January 2024, the Federal Government ordered the ACCC to set up an inquiry into Australia’s supermarket sector.

It followed growing public pressure to investigate alleged ‘price gouging’ — deliberately and unnecessarily inflating a product’s cost.

The ACCC held 10 public hearings, where the major supermarkets appeared, and received more than 100 public submissions, and 20,000 responses to its consumer survey.

The ACCC’s final report found Australia’s supermarket sector is “highly concentrated, with an oligopoly structure”. An oligopoly describes a situation where there’s limited competition.

The ACCC found Australia’s market is dominated by Coles and Woolworths, which make up 67% of the grocery industry.

In countries like the U.S. and UK, supermarket chains engage in informal “price wars,” where competition keeps costs low.

The ACCC noted Coles and Woolworths are two of “the most profitable supermarket businesses among their global peers”.

It added that “consistently high profits” showed there is more room for competition in the sector.

The latest half-year updates showed Coles reporting a profit of $576 million in the six months to December, while Woolworths recorded a $739 profit in the same period. Both companies reported lower profits compared to the 2024 half-yearly results.

Owing to their market dominance, the ACCC found Coles and Woolworths have “limited incentive to compete vigorously with each other on price.”

Official data shows grocery prices have risen by 24% over the past five years. Some of the largest increases hit eggs (47%), milk (34%), and bread (32%).

The report notably did not accuse Australia’s supermarkets of price gouging, which was a key accusation from some consumer and farmer groups.

The ACCC made 20 recommendations to improve Australia’s supermarket industry.

It suggested supermarkets should have “record-keeping obligations” on discounts, to avoid misleading customers when they promote a special or sale.

“Through clearer sales tickets and promotions, consumers will be better placed to make more informed decisions about what products offer the best value for them at the checkout,” ACCC Deputy Chair, Mick Keogh, said.

Woolworths Group CEO Amanda Bardwell argued the “Australian grocery sector is very competitive”.

She welcomed some of the recommendations for improving transparency.

In a statement, Coles also argued that the “grocery sector is highly competitive,” rejecting suggestions the company dominates Australia’s supermarket sector.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers told the ABC the ACCC report showed the need for “more scrutiny, more information and more competition… There are things that we are doing to crack down on the supermarkets.”

Nationals leader David Littleproud criticised the inquiry, saying it “asks for more transparency and reporting but fails to understand if there’s not a consequence for doing the wrong thing, then it’s just business-as-usual for the big supermarkets.”

He said the Coalition would impose $2-10 million fines for supermarkets found to have breached fair price rules, if it wins the next election (due by 17 May).

Reporting by Harry Sekulich.

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🍊 The Socceroos are one step closer to the World Cup.
🍊 Australia’s women’s cricket team continues to dominate.
🍊 The International Olympic Committee elects its first female President.
🗞️ Also in today’s Sport Newsletter: NRL, AFL, and more…

Maud Page will lead the Sydney-based gallery when she officially takes over as director this Friday. The Art Gallery of NSW said Page’s “extraordinary career dedicated to championing artists and expanding audiences for contemporary, First Nations, and Asia-Pacific art,” will bring “a visionary approach” to the cultural institution.

Want more good news? Sign up to our weekly Good Newsletter here - we promise it’ll make your week better!

Reporting by Emma Gillespie.

A court has found Mariah Carey did not steal ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’.

Two songwriters filed a lawsuit in 2023, alleging the Christmas classic infringed the copyright of their country song with the same title.

Their song at one point reached No. 31 on Billboard's Hot Country chart, which they suggested increased the likelihood of Carey having listened to it.

However, a judge found the songwriters “made no reasonable effort” to prove their claims with evidence.

Reporting by Rosa Bowden.

Last week, a coronial inquest heard evidence relating to the murder of 21-year-old Lilie James. James was killed in October 2023 by Paul Thijssen, a colleague with whom she had a short relationship. In today’s podcast, we’ll explain what we now understand happened on the day of her murder, and the events leading up to it.

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