Why can the Pharmacy Guild get away with a deal with the government which limits competition? Rather than admit that it is a union working to maximise the income of its members, the Pharmacy Guild of Australia prefers to position itself as a ”professional association” concerned more with improving standards and delivering benefits for the community. We take for granted that cafes and restaurants will cluster near movie theatres and compete with each other on price and quality. Similarly, we take for granted that fruit and vegetable stores will cluster near supermarkets. But when it comes to pharmacies we are told it makes much more sense if they each have a monopoly in proximity to the local doctor.
Related documents
Between the Lines Newsletter
The biggest stories and the best analysis from the team at the Australia Institute, delivered to your inbox every fortnight.
You might also like
Private health insurance is for the rich – the rest would rather better public health
ATO figures show that private health insurance is favoured by the rich and it should be subject to GST
10 reasons why Australia does not need company tax cuts
1/ Giving business billions of dollars in tax cuts means starving schools, hospitals and other services. Giving business billions of dollars in tax cuts means billions of dollars less for services like schools and hospitals. If Australia cut company tax from 30% to 25% this would give business about $20 billion in its first year,
Tax reform isn’t hard – slug multinationals and subsidise the things we want more of
Taxes are the price we pay for civilisation, but they are also a tool we can use to change the shape of our economy, not just its size.