Australian Owned and its many members have taken to the lawn of Parliament House to call for politicians to show their support for Australian owned businesses and “go to bat” to level the playing field.
According to Australian Owned, only 1 in 5 products on supermarket shelves are Australian owned.
The social enterprise and administer of the Australian Owned Certification trademark is calling for preferential shelf space allocation highlighting Australian owned brands in each product category.
General Manager of Australian Owned, Kristy Ponting, says: “It’s hard to quantify how many Australian owned and made brands are left on our supermarket shelves, because it isn’t information they’d like people to know, but it’s estimated to be as low as 15%. Just five years ago it was 25%. This is why we’re calling for our country’s decision makers to step up and go to bat for Australian owned businesses and give us a fair go at getting great value, quality products into Australian shopping trolleys.”
The Unfairest Cricket Match
If a disadvantage like the one facing Australian owned businesses was evident in any sporting event there would be uproar across the nation. So Australian Owned and its members are going to bat for Australian owned businesses by hosting The Unfairest Cricket Match that’s ever been played.
On Wednesday, 16 November at Kensington Oval, NSW the ‘Australian Owned’ face off against ‘The Rest of the World’ will take place, with the ‘Australian Owned’ team facing disadvantages similar in scale to those faced in supermarkets. “Unfair decisions” such as poor shelf position and distribution will be brought to life with smaller cricket bats, bigger stumps and even an unfair umpire.
Glenn McGrath, Team Captain of the ‘Australian Owned’ team will be stepping onto the pitch to stand up for the homegrown (and owned) team as they face off against the odds and the Foreign Owned team.
“I’m proud to be standing up for Australian owned businesses and hope that our team will be filled with other influential supporters that endorse giving Australian owned businesses a fair go,” he says.
Australian Owned have called for eleven influential Australians including Anthony Albanese, Dominic Perrotet, Penny Wong and Stuart Robert to go to bat for Australian owned businesses in the match.
Petition for change
Australian Owned and its members want Aussies to help level the playing field, both on and off the cricket pitch by signing a petition to stipulate that food and grocery retailers must provide preferential shelf space allocation highlighting Australian owned brands in each product category.
“Supporting Australian owned brands helps our economy in the long term,” Ms Ponting says. “It creates jobs, increases wages and contributes more to society through taxes that build infrastructure and public services to name a few.”