National pledges Pak'nSave split, partners push back
National has announced a plan to sever Pak'nSave from New World in a bid to drive down grocery prices. The policy is contingent on a six-month review by the Commerce Commission, according to RNZ.
The announcement came on the morning of Wednesday, 16 September, with little warning. National has made the split a key part of its election pitch, according to Farmers Weekly.
The detail, as described so far, centres on Foodstuffs. NZ First's parallel policy proposed structurally separating Foodstuffs, including Pak'nSave, New World and Four Square, according to 1News.
NZ First leader Winston Peters did not hold back. Speaking to reporters, he played a snippet of the 1955 song "The Great Pretender" on his phone to mock National's announcement.
Peters accused National of having "cut and pasted" NZ First's plan to break up the supermarket duopoly. He said NZ First had announced its plan in April. He said National's move came "far too late" to make a difference this term.
ACT was equally critical. The party labelled National's proposal as "desperate and visionless" campaigning. Leader David Seymour warned the "heavy-handed intervention" would have a chilling impact on investment and dissuade new entrants.
Labour moved on the same day. The party promised to ban big companies from charging excessive prices, according to Farmers Weekly.
Looking at what this means for the campaign, the immediate friction is coalition management. National has put a structural separation proposal on the table while its two support partners reject both the substance and the timing. For staffers, the question is process. A Commerce Commission review of this length pushes decisions past the election and into post-election negotiations.
In my view, the politics matter as much as the mechanism. Peters is claiming ownership of duopoly breakup and framing National as late. Seymour is framing intervention as a deterrent to entry. Labour is offering a conduct remedy rather than a structural one. Voters will hear three different theories of how prices fall.
