Calls to make price gouging illegal during COVID-19 pandemic

There are calls to make price gouging illegal in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

Consumer Group CHOICE is leading the charge, lobbying the government to clamp down on people or businesses selling things like essential items, such as face masks, at inflated prices.

But former ACCC chair Professor Allan Fels told Tom Elliott there had been a lot of “window dressing” by governments in the past.

He said Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton had introduced a law to stop price gouging on essential items such as medical supplies.

“I wouldn’t get too excited about what it would achieve,” he said.

“When it’s small people doing it, it’s quite difficult to get results, we haven’t got many laws about it.”

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