Remote communities were vulnerable to more than just COVID-19 during the recent lockdowns but also profit taking by their local food stores, it has been claimed.
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Government agencies are being forced to defend programs which saw remote Indigenous communities including Doomadgee and Mornington Island forced into COVID-19 lockdown for two months leaving them vulnerable to being ripped off by their own stores who have been accused of profit taking.
Populations of these remote communities jumped by a third in some cases through return to country programs paid for by governments to put added pressure on supplies.
There were already questions about the quality of the food supplied in the bush and the prices charged even before the lockdown began.
There were examples of bread being sold for $10 a loaf, the same price for a small lettuce.
Now a Federal Parliament committee is trying to find out what is going on at those stores after learning Thursday no-one keeps a check on pricing.
The committee has already heard the size of the problem of price checking is Australia-wide.
The National Indigenous Australians Agency has launched its first ever "basket of goods" analysis across hundreds of stores in remote communities across Australia to check whether price gouging claims are correct.
That first sweep of about half of all stores is expected to finished within a month and handed to the Federal Government.
Claims of over charging, lack of supply and food quality issues reached a crisis point during the long COVID-19 lockdowns of remote communities.
Those travel restrictions have only just been lifted.
A parliamentary committee was told Thursday populations in some of those remote communities had risen 20-30 per cent almost overnight because of return to country programs before the biosecurity regions were closed.
Some residents even complained they could not get out to buy clothing essentials like underwear or cold weather clothes because of the lockdowns.
Panic buying in metropolitan areas also had an impact in remote communities forcing the intervention of the National Cabinet to ensure remote supplies became a priority.
Whether these remote stores should stock more than just food and essentials but also clothing and blankets was been raised before the Federal Parliament's Indigenous Affairs Committee during today's opening day of hearings.
The committee is probing whether decent food being sold at reasonable prices.
The committee was told a community store might be the only food outlet for hundreds of kilometres and residents were forced to pay what they were asked.
NIAA chief executive officer Ray Griggs said because the food was being sold in remote areas "it was inevitable" prices would be higher.
He said wages, lower store turnover, and transport needed to be considered.
Mr Griggs said the real question was whether the higher prices "were reasonable".
The committee was told there were already a number of regulations governing the operation of most remote stores but it was mostly to do with quality of food rather than pricing.
One committee member told Mr Griggs he did not believe there was price gouging occurring.
The same member said he was more concerned people had access to quality nutritious food.
The committee was told it may consider where people could lodge a complaint if they believed their store was failing them.
In May, Indigenous Australians Minister Ken Wyatt asked the committee to inquiry into and report on food prices and food security in remote Indigenous communities.
The committee is inviting submissions until June 30.
The committee is due to present its final report by October 30.
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