Australia news live: Labor looks to crack down on ‘shrinkflation’ at supermarkets; Queensland leaders prepare for debate | Australia news

The Albanese government is looking at cracking down on “dodgy discounts” by supermarkets who reduce product sizes but maintain or increase prices as part of its campaign against misleading and deceptive pricing in the sector.

The government will consult on changes to strengthen the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s Price Unit Code, which requires larger supermarkets and grocers to provide cost per unit breakdowns on price tags within stores and online.

The code means, for example, price tags for laundry detergents are broken down by cost per liter to allow consumers to compare products. Fresh produce price tags must also show price per kilogram or grams.

The government announced it would consult on the following changes:

• Improving readability and visibility of unit pricing in stores,

• Addressing inconsistent use of units of measure across supermarkets,

• Whether to expand the scope of retailers covered by the code,

• More specific prominence and legibility requirements, and

• Improving the use of unit pricing in cross-retailer price comparisons.

The ACCC will also be funded to launch a consumer awareness campaign on how unit pricing can help Australians get better deals.

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese said “tackling ‘shrinkflation’ through stronger unit pricing and new penalties is part of our plan to get a better deal for Australians.”

We are also making changes to make sure the ACCC is a tough cop on the beat, while also encouraging more competition and making sure there are significant consequences for supermarkets who do the wrong thing.

Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it’ll be Emily Wind with the main action.

Annual rent increases for houses have hit multi-year lows in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide, suggesting a relentless stretch of rising rents may have peaked, a new report has found. Renters are still feeling the pinch from record high prices but the data from Domain revealed the lowest September quarter growth rate since 2019 for houses and 2020 for units.

Speaking of cost-of-living issues, the Albanese government is looking to crack down on shrinkflation, the phenomenon where items in your shopping basket get smaller while staying the same price. More on that in a few minutes.

Peter Cain, the ACT’s shadow attorney general, has apologized “wholeheartedly” for a 2002 workbook he wrote which paints an ahistorically rosy picture of how Christian settlers helped First Nations peoples.

Queensland’s premier, Steven Miles, will promise his state’s households they will always have the cheapest power prices of all mainland states in the national electricity market if Labor is elected this month. He will announce a plan today to use the firm to create an “energy price guarantee” that Queensland household bills would remain the lowest outside Western Australia. Later he faces off against his LNP rival David Crisafulli in a televised debate.