"This is the intellect safeguarding [sic] our $22 billion grocery sector."

"The [Government and] Commerce Commission ha[ve] spent two years assembling [their] case [against supermarkets.] Supermarkets, we’re told, hold all the power. The evidence? Mostly grievances. The method? Identify the culprit, then look for supporting facts.

"So, when Foodstuffs released a price comparison of 20 everyday grocery items, suggesting Pak’nSave prices were cheaper than Australia’s (and the UK’s)—after removing GST—Grocery Commissioner Pierre van Heerden had a problem.

"It turns out Australia’s apparently cheaper prices are not so cheap when GST is accounted for. That’s because Australia doesn’t tax grocery food. New Zealand does. Removing GST to compare like with like should be uncontroversial. It’s what every duty-free shopper on earth does.

"But ... the Grocery Commissioner of New Zealand—the [bureaucrat] charged with understanding retail markets—thinks adjusting for tax differences is sneaky. ...

"According to figures published by Foodstuffs ... of every “grocery dollar” [spent] ... supermarkets are responsible for just 19 cents: four cents profit, fifteen for costs like wages, rent, and refrigeration. GST takes the remaining thirteen.

"[The Commissioner's] response? ... Clamp down on the supermarkets and their [four cents profit] for negotiating too hard.

"This is the intellect safeguarding [sic] our $22 billion grocery sector."

~ Roger Partridge from his post 'Grocery Regulation Gets the Lewis Carroll Treatment'