00:01Well, after five days of hearings here in court, today we have the ACCC entering the
00:07final stages of this case, with the Consumer Watchdogs head counsel making closing submissions.
00:13And it has been tense at times here in the federal court, with Justice O'Brien noting
00:19that he was troubled and burdened by some of the ACCC's interpretations in this case.
00:25Now, the ACCC's lawyer has been fighting back, reiterating that this case is about fake
00:31discounting, they claim, by Coles.
00:34They are reiterating their case that they believe that Coles often fake discounts when they use
00:40down-down promotions on products like dog food and pet food, and then they set them at prices
00:45that were actually higher than they had been in some instances only a few weeks earlier.
00:51Now, the ACCC's lawyer has summed up this case as being ultimately about Coles' customers.
00:57He says that they range from pensioners to high-income earners through to teenagers.
01:02And Gary Reich made this comment.
01:04He said that these customers read that the price is down-down.
01:09They read that the price was much higher.
01:11They think that they're being offered a good deal.
01:13The price has gone down, they're told.
01:15They think it's a genuine discount.
01:16Many will have no idea that the price was actually lower four weeks ago.
01:22The ACCC has used 12 products specifically to argue its case here in the Federal Court.
01:29That's ranged from sticks of deodorant to toothpaste to dog food.
01:34We have heard very specific testimony from Coles' senior managers about these items, and the ACCC has really tried to
01:44tease out of these senior managers about the practices and guidelines that they have in place for their down-down
01:51promotions.
01:52Now, some of these interpretations has really been the sticking points here today, and what I noted was Justice O
01:59'Brien saying that parts of the ACCC's interpretations were troublesome or burdensome.
02:05Justice O'Brien noted at one point that there are many reasons why prices might have been elevated and then
02:12lowered, and that could come down to things like negotiations with Coles' suppliers.
02:17We have Coles obviously vigorously defending this case.
02:21We've had experts say that the supermarket giant could be up for a fine of in excess of $100 million
02:27if it loses this blockbuster case.
02:30Coles' reputation is also on the line here at a time when trust in supermarkets, both Coles and its major
02:38competitor Woolworths, has been declining.
02:41Now, for the ACCC, the stakes are very big as well.
02:45The consumer watchdog will obviously be spending a lot of time and money prosecuting this case, and if it loses,
02:53there will be a lot of questions about why it took on such a big company.
02:57If it loses as well, the ACCC might have to reconsider its case against Woolworths, which it has made a
03:05similar allegation against over fake discounting.
03:09That hearing is set down for April at this stage.
03:12Thank you very much.
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