The Albanese government has been urged to step in and bring down rising grocery prices, as more than one-third of surveyed Australians have been forced to skip meals.

YouGov surveyed 1500 people and found that 94 per cent of respondents were concerned about the cost of groceries, including 61 per cent who were “very concerned”. 

The survey, released on Tuesday, also found that 79 per cent of these people found it harder to afford groceries compared to 12 months ago.

Recent analysis from consumer advocacy group Choice found that all four of Australia’s major supermarket chains, including Coles, Woolworths, Aldi and IGA have increased their prices up to 7 per cent between May and June this year.

The Green Institute has proposed the federal government intervene and implement publicly owned supermarkets, which they say could cut the cost of essentials by 30 per cent, saving shoppers hundreds of dollars per month.

The proposal is inspired by New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s pledge to build five government-owned grocery stores. 

According to The Green Institute, an Australian family of four would save $3134 annually by adopting the plan.

“Australians are sick of being ripped off by profit-hungry Coles and Woolworths, while politicians in Canberra sit on their hands,” Green Institute executive director and former federal member of parliament Max Chandler-Mather said.

“Kids are going to school hungry, families are skipping meals, people are cutting back on essentials – all because Labor has allowed Coles and Woolworths to jack up prices for extra profit.” 

The Green Institute also accused the supermarket giants of price gouging, saying that Labor’s recent “anti-price gouging” laws had made no impact.

Institute of Public Affairs chief economist Adam Creighton previously ridiculed Mamdani’s plan as “completely ridiculous”.

However, 84 per cent of respondents on the YouGov poll, including more than half of all surveyed One Nation voters, said they would back publicly owned supermarkets.

The funding for these publicly owned supermarket is estimated to cost $25.1 billion over five years, which also covers the construction of more than 400 stores and distribution centres nationwide, including the 200 compulsorily acquired Coles and Woolworths stores.

The supermarket giants have continued to deny accusations of price-gouging, citing eight separate inquiries which found no evidence of the practice.

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