Issuu

Why We’re Stealing Bread Again

he other day I watched someone put their groceries back. They were at the checkout anxiously watching the tally. I know that feeling. It’s something I’ve done many times in the past. Especially when I was a single mother. It’s humiliating. Having to declare your financial strain by returning items until the number on the screen matches the numbers in your account. In public. Under pressure. Usually with screaming kids hanging off your trolley. There are no sneaky chockies or delicious treats for many people in this country. For many there aren’t even the basics. The cost of living crisis means some people are struggling to pay for the essentials. It’s going to be a very lean Xmas for many Australians whose lives don’t look like the shiny insta ads. The big supermarkets make me angry. They are raking it in. In fact, while single mums have to decide between toilet paper and bread, and settling for bread that tastes like toilet paper - business is booming. The profits of the big two are through the roof. This year Woolworths posted a whopping $1.62 billion annual profit with Coles coming in at around $1.1billion. How can they be doing so well when we’re doing it so tough? Apparently, according to the PR spin, this is directly related to global inflation. Supply issues. Post pandemic blah blah. Well if according to the ABS, annual food inflation is sitting at 7.5%, why have dairy products risen by 15.2% in the last 12 months? Bread is coming in a close second at 11.2%? The increase in price is significantly more than inflation. Could this be corporate opportunism? A little bit of grinchy gouging? The issue for many is that we don’t have much choice. Especially in regional areas where the duopolies have little to no competition.

STARS BY LILITH Spoiler alert! With trickster planet Mercury reversing for the rest of the year, try to find something – anything – to smile at, because a sense of humour is your best friend right now...

SAGITTARIUS THE ARCHER

Mungo MacCallum’s Crossword #521 1

MANDY NOLAN’S

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Cryptic Clues

Quick Clues

1. Forces entry as trophy announced with major golf tournament (5,4) 6. Legal actions for containers (5) 9. Summary: racehorse has been returned (5) 10. A doctor: that’s directions covering 100 moods (9) 11. Pine from mixed ferrite (3,4) 12. Red vehicle owned by me (7) 13. Monet and Manet insist promises broken (14) 17. Action novel: nun involved, outside the rules (14) 21. Cock to rest uneasily following small macropod (7) 23. Cold thinner for char (7) 25. Court case operates, but only for rehearsals (5,4) 26. Decorate a party with the British navy (5) 27. Unknown antelopes retreat among the rushes (5) 28. Silliest, at any rate (9)

1. Breaks into using a lever (5,4) 6. Instances (5) 9. Synopsis (5) 10. Atmospheres; milieus (9) 11. Evergreen conifer (3,4) 12. Crimson pigment (7) 13. They mimic mannerisms and voices of well-known people (14) 17. Bohemian (14) 21. Chanticleer (7) 23. Janitor (7) 25. Tests of new products/methods (5,4) 26. Embellish (5) 27. Description of a high, thin voice (5) 28. In any case (9)

ACROSS

This year Woolworths posted a whopping $1.62 billion annual proﬁt with Coles coming in at around $1.1billion. How can they be doing so well when we’re doing it so tough? A recent news story had a jar of Vegemite going for almost $10. It was a big jar, but it’s vegemite. Not caviar. The average spend for groceries for a family of four is around $336 per week. That’s not even a full trolley. There is strong wage growth, but it’s just not keeping up with prices. According to an article from The Guardian earlier this year, wages have risen only half the speed of prices. You don’t have to be a maths genius to know that it doesn’t add up.

Apparently, we’ve started stealing. Ironic, because that’s how most non-Indigenous Australians arrived here. As convicts convicted of stealing bread. Talk about full circle. Here we go again. While supermarkets are bitching about stock loss of up to 2-3 % – somehow they are still making massive profits. Maybe forget about installing more surveillance to track desperate people, just dial back the cost of cheese and milk. It’s cheaper and it’s more humane. And frankly, if you get people to do an impromptu shift on the self-checkout - expect a loss. Big supermarkets are basically getting us to do their work for free. And cutting out the employment of attendants. Stop bitching about losing an onion or two. My view is, if you self-checkout then you should be given a 10% discount. Bring on the parliamentary inquiry into price gouging. And maybe instead of criminalising the poor we can point the cameras where we really need the surveillance – on corporations.

DOWN

ACROSS

DOWN 1. Oily liquid used as fuel (8) 2. Bring on oneself (5) 3. Character with special powers (9) 4. They orbit a star (7) 5. Famous Verdi opera (7) 6. Translucent (5) 7. Person in charge of the church’s holy objects (9) 8. Female sibling (6) 14. A show for children, usually at Christmas (9) 15. Peripatetic (9) 16. Capital of Tuscany (8) 18. Digitally replicated (7) 19. Capital of Cyprus (7) 20. Speechifier (6) 22. Correspond; coincide (5) 24. Biblical name meaning ‘pleasantness’ (5)

1. Kerosene – good score, a strong fluke! (8) 2. Run into popular dog (5) 3. Delivered pure horse to Spiderman! (9) 4. Flora found around earth, and other worlds (7) 5. Castro, for one, raised company for Verdi opera (7) 6. Cool king, and bright! (5) 7. Saint’s car required for church official (9) 8. Vigorously resist a nun! (6) Last week’s solution #520 14. Gasp, play dumb over nothing – I M M I G R A T E S A C T U child’s play! (9) R I E D A C L N 15. Traveller – one can rave about A T L A N T A R E H E A R D England! (9) Q I E M N I N E E A G E R 16. Nightingale found in Italian city (8) I N T E R L A C E A A N S F W 18. Five raise wild ceremony – but it’s B A N A L T I T L E R O L E not real (7) L T M X T A 19. New, one lettuce, first class – raised O B S T A C L E S E T H E R in city Cyprus! (7) S N A I C E S T U P A I N N E U T R A L 20. Wild roar to speaker (6) O P G D C T W I 22. Record for lofty youth (5) M I S D E A L E D I T I O N E E R O R V S E 24. I complain, bringing up Wolfe (5) D A T E

– Mandy Nolan

ARIES: Arrangements changing like whiplash? This week, as always, complaining is draining, so address that awesome Aries willpower to not be dwelling on negatives. While patience may not come automatically to your passionate personality, Mercury retrogrades always benefit from talking less, listening more, and staying available to negotiation.

CANCER: For Cancerians, familiarity breeds contentment, but when the enthusiastic boost of this month’s new moon on 13 December tempts you out of the comfort zone into the frenzied frivolity of parties, presents and new possibilities, why not answer the call. Only caution? Mercury’s retrograde, so check arrangements carefully.

TAURUS: With the planets of expansion and change, Jupiter and Uranus, lying low in your sign, caution is your smartest path through the irritations of mischievous Mercury’s tricky business, and less is definitely more. Spending less money and more time with loved ones could mean less stress and more pleasure.

LEO: As quicksilver planet Mercury backflips for the remainder of 2023, the season of unreason ramps up, with hitches and glitches to festive plans raising frustration levels. For any chance of a cool yule, forget rigid thinking and get flexible: exercise your signature superpowers of being creative and spontaneous.

SCORPIO: Mercury’s swerve into reverse unleashes a welter of questionable rumours and confusing data. What to do? Relax. This isn’t a time to force issues, so go with the flow. Take extra time to keep checking and clarifying arrangements. Choose your travel companions and fellow partygoers carefully.

GEMINI: When your mentor planet Mercury backspins this week for the rest of December, rushing or cutting corners could create epic meltdowns, so slow down. Take some deep breaths. Tread carefully. Hard as it might be right now to stop your brain racing and fingers pressing ‘send’, stop, check and consider before you do.

VIRGO: Due to the signal-jamming static of your planet mentor Mercury backing up until New Year’s Day, miscommunications are likely to ripple through the rest of December. Leave nothing up to chance with holiday plans and arrangements: send follow-up texts, don’t assume anything, confirm and reconfirm everything.

SAGITTARIUS: Annual new moon in Sagittarius on 13 December opens a gift box of multicultural mingling and promising possibilities for you birthday enthusiasts. Not so welcome news is an itchy and scratchy Mercury retrograde, so use the current sun/Mars energy in your sign to unravel mixed messages and misunderstandings.

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LIBRA: This week’s escalating tensions call for your best Libran mediating skills and peace-making talents, which continue in demand throughout this season of merry mayhem. If a hotspot of arguments and contention arcs up around fiery midweek new moon, apply soothing Venusian calm and conflict resolution.

S W E E T E N E R S

CAPRICORN: What’s good about Mercury retrograde in your sign? Mercury affects your mental processes. Everything in your life passes through Mercury’s filter, and the coming weeks need a calm, creative mindset, open if necessary, to taking plans back to the drawing board when the unexpected makes its entrance. AQUARIUS: This is the kind of week when you say Okay, and they hear No Way, so it’s worth making the extra effort to clarify misunderstandings. Aquarians need space: to think, to operate, to be yourselves, so if this congested week starts closing in, step back for a bigger vista. And be satisfied with small successes. PISCES: The most meaningful presents often don’t cost anything except a generous spirit. With Neptune and Saturn gracing your sign, Pisceans’ gift to this possibly messy, stressy week could be sprinkling everyday conversation with genuine compliments and encouragement. So go ahead: make someone’s day.