Supermarket giant Woolworths is facing the Federal Court on ACCC allegations of dodgy discounting practices.
The Australian share market opened higher but dipped into the red after a lower finish for stocks on Wall Street.
Follow the day’s financial news and insights from our specialist business reporters on our live blog.
Disclaimer: this blog is not intended as investment advice.
Key Events
Market snapshot
- ASX 200: -0.1% to 8,944 points (live values below)
- Australian dollar: -0.04% to 71.74 US cents
- Wall Street: S&P500 -0.2%, Dow -0.01%, Nasdaq -0.3%
- Europe: Dax -0.8%, FTSE -0.6, Eurostoxx -0.8%
- Spot gold: -0.3% to $US4,807/ounce
- Brent crude: -0.6% to $US94.95/barrel
- Iron ore: -0.2% to $US107.20/tonne
- Bitcoin: -0.6% at $US75,822
Prices current at around 12:00pm AEST
Live updates from major ASX indices:
EV charging look to lift by 18% to 2029-30, CBA says
John Oh, CBA sustainable and energy economist, has circulated a note on electric vehicles (EV), with his chart of the day.
He says interest in electric vehicles (EVs) has gained interest since the outset of the war in the Middle East.
The latest vehicle sales data in Australia showed battery electric vehicle (BEV) sales surged to an all-time market share of 14.6% of total vehicle sales in March.
He says as Australians make the switch from internal combustion engines to electric vehicles, it will increase demand on the electricity grid.
For now, he says, the household uptake of batteries via the Cheaper Home Batteries scheme is exceeding expectations, and the National Electricity Market (NEM) does appear well positioned to absorb stronger EV growth until the end of the decade.
But it’s something policymakers will have to watch.
“AEMO’s 2026 draft Integrated System Plan (ISP) shows underlying electricity consumption (i.e. electricity consumption from the grid and behind-the-meter) grows by 24 TWh (or 2.7% per year) from 2025-26 to 2029-30.
“Electric vehicle charging contributes to 15-20% of this growth in electricity consumption.
“As a share of total electricity consumption, EV charging grows from 0.4% in 2025-26 to 2.2% in 2029-30.
“It’s worth noting that AEMO’s forecast are underpinned by optimistic lift in EV sales. AEMO sees EV share of new vehicle sales (excluding trucks) growing from current levels of 18% to 47% by 2029-30. For trucks, AEMO sees EV share increase from current levels of <1% to 13% by 2029-30." he says.
That’s lunch for Woolies case
Court has adjourned until 2:15pm AEST.
Both the ACCC and Woolworths opening arguments were punctuated with lengthy exchanges between the lawyers and the Justice about what is relevant to the case.
The major factor in dispute seems to be whether the “was” price displayed on Woolworths “price drop” tickets is genuine — “was” as in this was $5, now it is $4.50.
The ACCC has focused on the length of time the “was” prices were in place for — e.g. were prices increased for unusually short periods to then drop them and advertise a discount — but Woolworths’s defence brings in other factors to support the genuineness of the “was” prices, e.g. increase in its input costs.
The judge has raised whether there are alternate cases being run.
Guess we’ll find out more after lunch!
Beauty in the eye of the beholder — analysis
Michael’s story on heritage buildings hits close to home. I once owned a house in a regional Victorian town. It was built in 1872 and was originally a miner’s cottage and framed entirely in red gum with original chimneys , doors , even the original cast iron front door lock and key ! When viewing the house I assumed it would be heritage listed but the agent said no. I didn’t believe it , so checked with the council. No heritage listing and did I want a development permit to knock it down ? I didn’t and restored the original house (although I did add a sympathetic extension ). Looking at some of these monstrosities compared to this old house makes you weep.
– Phillip
Hi Phillip,
I totally hear what you are saying. I guess, from an architectural and heritage point of view, sometimes it is worth saving ugly buildings because they are a snapshot of a particular era or prominent design movement.
As fellow commenter Daniel points out:
“The Dee Why Civic Centre may be old and ugly, but it is honestly a nice humble reminder of our past. Dee Why has evolved so much over the past decade that I think it would be thoughtful to have the Civic Centre be unchanged as a reminder of the old days.”
These are two of the heritage listed buildings in Sydney that I personally find hideous, but I am sure others appreciate.
The problem with Fisher Library, for me, is that it is such a stark and out of place juxtaposition to the glorious sandstone quadrangle that stands across from it.
Meanwhile the Reserve Bank is now in the middle of a billion-dollar renovation blow-out of its asbestos-riddled, but heritage-listed, headquarters in Martin Place.
The cost would make Donald Trump’s head explode, given his criticisms of the cost blow-outs for the US Federal Reserve’s headquarters makeover.
Lucky both institutions print their own money!
Let us know what you think — keep sending in those comments.
Price increases were genuine: Woolworths
Woolworths has opened its by arguing its price increases that preceded discounts were genuine prices, and that the ACCC hasn’t been able to articulate that they weren’t.
The consumer regulator has argued that Woolworths offered false discounts, by briefly raising prices before then lowering them and promoting them as discounted.
Woolworths lead counsel Robert Yezerski SC has told the court that the ACCC hasn’t proven that the price increases for products before they were dropped weren’t genuine.
The amount of time the price was increased is less relevant than the reasoning behind it, he argued.
He argued that for the products, a price increase “reflects a cost price increase in almost all cases”.
But Justice O’Bryan pushed back, saying that just because a price increase was genuine, that doesn’t automatically mean the discount from that price was genuine.
Woolworths up now in discounting court case
The ACCC has wrapped up its opening arguments in its dodgy discounting case, which has kicked off hearings in the Federal Court in Sydney.
Woolworths counsel Robert Yezerski SC is up now, to deliver the supermarket’s opening arguments.
He describes it as an “implied representation” case, noting the ACCC does not assert that there is any inaccurate information on Woolies price tickets.
Sydney? Harbour and Opera House. Melbourne? Heritage listed car parks
Free market think tank the Centre for Independent Studies (CIS) does have some fun occasionally and it seems like today is the day.
Its self-generated list of heritage listing decisions that it says are given to “buildings and structures of dubious aesthetic or historical merit” has an absolute cracker at the top, a seven-storey carpark on the corner of Grattan and Cardigan streets in Carlton, Victoria.
It’s a building close to my heart.
When I moved up from the country I was lucky enough to go to Melbourne University. This car park was used by the then Women’s Hospital, which was demolished (they built a new one a few blocks away) and turned into more university offices.
The car park remains.
I’m unsure how well-used it is.
It’s the only above ground car park in the otherwise crammed area, and the uni and the busy Lygon Street strip are nearby.
But it is also incredibly well-serviced by trams and buses. And they just built a metro train station under the uni!
On the site itself there’s a GP’s office up the top — where the windows are.
Incredibly, it’s not even the only heritage listed car park in the area!
The University of Melbourne South Lawn car park is unsurprisingly under the south lawn, one of the few bits of open space on the campus.
I mean seriously, check it out.
It’s listed not only for its architecture — it has a fancy stone doorway too — but because key scenes in ‘Mad Max’ were shot there.
Forget the Gold Coast’s beaches or Sydney’s harbour. They stay with you for just a moment.
To build lifelong memories filled with awe, come to Melbourne to experience our truly iconic car parks.
Consumers aren’t thinking as lawyers: ACCC
The ACCC’s Michael Hodge KC said, “there’s a significant risk of over-lawyering this”.
A keen observer of the similar case against Coles in February, perhaps, given those hearings saw the court dig into the very technical reasoning behind Coles’ pricing decisions.
“Consumers are going down these aisles, and they aren’t thinking as lawyers,” Hodge said at the Woolworths hearing this morning.
This case is already diving headfirst into the technicalities of Woolworths’s ticketing and the ‘net cost price per unit’ for products.
Woolworths came up a number of times in the Coles’ case, with internal documents showing Coles’ managers sceptical about Woolworths’s discounts, wondering whether they were genuine discounts.
At one point, they questioned whether they should call the ACCC.
Oh, the irony.
ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence declines slightly in last week
The latest ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence survey was broadly unchanged last week, declining just 0.2pts.
At 64.3pts, the series is at its fourth-lowest level since records began in 1973.
The weekly ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence rating is based on 1,013 interviews conducted online and over the telephone during the week to Sunday.
ANZ economist Sophia Angala said the slight decline in confidence was driven by weaker economic confidence.
“This came amid the release of the March Labour Force Survey, which showed the unemployment rate holding at 4.3%,” she said.
“Overall, higher fuel prices and recent weakness in consumer confidence are likely to see consumer spending slow.
“Weekly inflation expectations rose to 7.1% last week, the third-highest result since the series began in 2010.
“In a fireside chat last week, RBA Deputy Governor Hauser noted that inflation in Australia is too high and highlighted the importance of keeping inflation expectations anchored.
“We continue to expect the RBA to increase the cash rate by 25bp in May.”
Centre for Independent Studies launches ‘Heritage Howlers’ awards
Free-market think tank The Centre for Independent Studies has announced the winner and finalists of its new “Heritage Howlers” awards.
Its chief economist Dr Peter Tulip has been at the vanguard of Australia’s YIMBY movement — yes in my backyard — which seeks to counter community opposition to development in a bid to increase high-density housing supply and, it argues, improve housing affordability.
One of the YIMBY bugbears is heritage protections, particularly on structures they deem unworthy of preserving.
First place went to this multi-story carpark in the inner-Melbourne suburb of Carlton.
“Heritage listing ensures future generations can appreciate the raw aesthetic experience of damp concrete ramps and the faint smell of exhaust fumes mingled with perished rubber,” quips Tulip.
“Without protection, developers might replace it with housing, thereby erasing an irreplaceable chapter in the story of humanity’s relationship with multi-storey parking.”
Second place went to a variety of substations in Melbourne’s inner-north and Sydney’s Inner-West, some of which are art deco brick structures.
Third place went to the MLC Building in North Sydney.
“The MLC building is heritage listed as a shining example of corporate modernism — a style that bravely answered the question, ‘What if a filing cabinet became an office tower?'” says Tulip.
Although, it must be noted that, despite its 2023 heritage listing, the building is still about to receive a dramatic makeover, which has been approved by North Sydney Council and the NSW government.
Among the honourable mentions is the Dee Why Civic Centre.
“Critics say it resembles a bunker designed to repel beauty itself, but this only proves its historical significance,” notes Tulip, before adding:
“Few structures have so successfully captured the spirit of municipal meetings, which also tend to be grey, impenetrable and slightly depressing.”
The West Gate Service Station’s inclusion on the list really speaks for itself.
I’d be keen to hear what you think of the award winners via our comments, and whether you have any other nominations you’d like to share.
If you want to understand more about the Atlas Network group of think tanks the CIS belongs to, read this excellent piece from Gareth Hutchens published over the summer.
For the first time in decades, cash use in Australia has increased
If you missed it, our ABC colleague Ahmed Yussuf has an informative article this morning based on a new paper from the Reserve Bank, about the recent up-tick in Australians’ use of cash.
Have you found yourself using cash more in recent years? If so, what’s inspired your change in behaviour?
ACCC pre-empts Woolworths inflation defence
The ACCC is trying to get ahead of Woolworths’ likely defence of inflation being a driver of the price increases.
ACCC’s Michael Hodge KC has argued that the retail price increase was not driven entirely by inflation.
In the near-identical case against Coles earlier this year, Coles argued that inflation and surging supplier prices gave them no choice but to increase prices to stay profitable.
In today’s case against Woolworths, Hodge acknowledged that rising input prices could push up shelf prices. But he said that Woolworths also increased its gross profit when it increased the price.
Using a family pack of Oreos as an example, he outlined how both the net cost price paid by Woolworths increased, but the gross profit earned per product increased as well.
The specific prices and margins are confidential and weren’t read out to the court.
The pack of Oreos is just one of 12 products that will be the focus of the trial, representing the 266 the ACCC alleges were misleadingly called discounts.
ASX now down
The Aussie share market has been making its way downhill across the first hour of trading, and is now in the red, down -0.3% to 8,931 points.
Here is a look:
The wonderful Gareth Hutchens will take over the blog now, and give you all the updates as we head into lunch.
See you next time!
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Analyst comments on the Apple CEO change
John Ternus, SVP of Hardware Engineering, will become the new CEO of Apple from September this year, with current CEO Tim Cook moving to the role of executive chair.
Analysts at Wedbush say this was a sudden move, and could create many questions.
“Apple is making a major transition on its AI strategy and long time CEO and legendary Cook leaving now is a surprise.
“There was growing pressure on Apple to produce a successful AI strategy and Cook must feel that the pieces are now in place heading into WWDC (worldwide developers conference) to hand over the reigns at this time.
“There will be a lot of pressure on Ternus to produce success out of the gates especially on the AI front.”
The analysts say investors will have questions around what this change means for the broader Apple strategy.
“This will put even more pressure on Apple to produce success and its product roadmap at WWDC with AI front and centre.”
Latest NZ consumer price index figures
New Zealand’s consumer price index (CPI) increased 3.1% in the 12 months to the March 2026 quarter, according to figures released by Stats NZ today.
In the March quarter alone, CPI increased 0.9%.
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s target band for the annual inflation rate is 1 to 3%.
The largest upwards contributor to the annual inflation rate was electricity, up 12.5%.
“Higher electricity prices accounted for more than a tenth of the 3.1% annual increase,” prices and deflators spokesperson Nicola Growden said.
“This was the third quarter in a row that electricity was the largest upwards contributor to the annual inflation rate.”
Here is a look at each of the major sectors:
And let’s zoom out and look at CPI figures in NZ over the years:
Technicalities of Woolworths price tickets
There’s quite a bit of back and forth between Justice O’Bryan and ACCC counsel Michael Hodge KC.
The ACCC had been outlining the difference between the supermarkets yellow tickets, advertising temporary discounts, and ‘price dropped’ tickets, advertising new, longer-term lower prices.
The Justice and Hodge seem to be disagreeing on some of the key tenants of the ACCC’s submission around how Woolworths conveyed discounts.
And apologies, I had erroneously referred to Justice O’Bryan as Justice Wigney earlier — Justice Wigney is hearing a different ACCC case today, against Mastercard.
‘Price dropped’ tickets signal longer-term price shift: ACCC
Jasper Wells here, reporting from the Federal Court of Australia in Sydney, where the ACCC is taking on Australia’s biggest supermarket.
ACCC lead counsel Michael Hodge KC has been describing the visual language that Woolworths customers rely on with the ticket colours to make purchase decisions.
Hodge kicked off by saying customers had “become familiar with the visual language”, of the three different ticketing types: regular, special and price dropped.
He emphasised that a ‘prices dropped’ ticket signalled to customers that unlike a special, the prices would be staying at that price in the near future, dropping from a formerly higher price.
ASX movements
The Aussie share market has begun the trading day up +0.1% to 8,958 points.
In the first 25 minutes of trading, there’s been a fair bit of movement, check it out:
Of the major sectors, Industrials is up the top, while Energy is down the bottom.
Of the major stocks, 75 are in the red, 12 are unchanged, and 113 are gaining.
Here are the top movers:
And here are the bottom movers:
The Aussie dollar is trading at nearly 72 US cents.
Market snapshot
- ASX 200: +0.1% to 8,962 points
- Australian dollar: -0.03% to 71.75 US cents
- Wall Street: S&P500 -0.2%, Dow -0.01%, Nasdaq -0.3%
- Europe: Dax -0.8%, FTSE -0.6, Eurostoxx -0.8%
- Spot gold: +0.2% to $US4,827/ounce
- Brent crude: -0.7% to $US94.80/barrel
- Iron ore: +1.0% to $US106.80/tonne
- Bitcoin: -0.5% at $US75,902
Prices current at around 10:20am AEST
Woolworths court case begins
Court is in session in the Federal Court in Sydney, before Justice Michael Wigney.
We’re kicking off with the ACCC’s side of things, delivered by Michael Hodge KC (those who followed the banking royal commission may be familiar).
He’s kicking off with a review of Woolworths ticket colour-coding system for discounts.
Yellow tickets are sold as temporary discounts, he’s outlining.
“The power of the marketing message is buy now before the price goes back up.”
