SENATE

Friday, 21 October 2016 Senate Page 9
Mr Bradley: The nature and the way it happened in Bathurst Island, that set of circumstances, should not have
occurred in any other store. If there have been other breaches, I will be concerned.
Senator SIEWERT: If you could take it on notice, because it could be that the situation has been
misunderstood, that would be appreciated.
Senator McCARTHY: I have a couple of questions on notice, Mr Bradley. Just a clarification: in terms of
your Indigenous employment in the stores, could you provide positions and locations for us for each of those? I
know that Senator Lines also made reference to a couple of things there. Also, with the subsidies, could you let us
know for each of the stores what kind of support they receive financially in terms of those subsidies? How do you
break that down for each of the stores?
Mr Bradley: Okay. We can do that.
Senator McALLISTER: A further question on notice, Mr Bradley. I think you indicated that 80 per cent of
your staff were Indigenous or local employees. Some opposition senators have anecdotal observations that differ
from that, and we would be interested to know whether that is by head count or by hours. Perhaps you could
provide, to the extent your data allows you, some indication of the hours allocated to the staff?
Mr Bradley: I can tell you that figure is by head count.
Senator McALLISTER: If you were able to break it down by hours or by wages, or by something that gave
some more direct indication—
Mr Bradley: I understand.
Senator McALLISTER: of how much of the employment is actually being allocated to Indigenous people,
that would help us.
Mr Bradley: Okay.
Senator SIEWERT: I have a follow-up question. In terms of the process failure that essentially happened in
the Bathurst Island example, has there been a process undertaken where you make sure that all stores now know
that that is inappropriate? Also your staff that—I was going to say 'facilitated', but that is not it—that got the
additional product?
Mr Bradley: Your point is right. There were two errors: one was to buy the stock and the other was then to
put it on show and promote it. That error to promote it was made in the store by the manager, and should not have
happened. The error to buy the stock and send it to the store was made by the buying team, and that should not
have happened. They have both been told—all stores have been told—that it should not happen, so if Warmun has
happened—
Senator SIEWERT: It may have been at around the same time. It may have been—if it has happened—
before you did that process.
Senator Scullion: Mr Chairman, before we move off some of these matters, first of all, I would like to
acknowledge the traditional owners of country, acknowledge the elders both past and present, and acknowledge
that we are much blessed to have two Aboriginal senators on the committee.
It is useful that we all understand the context of Outback Stores and the role they play. These are privatelyowned
stores with a board which is the boss. Outback Stores are the managers, and we do our best in here to
influence policy. I think where some of the weakness is is that there is some significant pushback from the owners
of the stores, and it is about profitability—the issue about profitability, Senator Dodson—that you speak about.
One of the areas that I am engaging in is where the profit goes, because that profit, if it were reinvested in food,
would significantly lower the cost of food. It is not. I am not suggesting for a moment that it goes on
inappropriate things, although I can have a discussion about that. So that is one of the most important issues that
we need to have an ongoing conversation about—where the profit of the store actually goes to.
The policies that we have been pushing are probably the things that have made the most difference. There are
people who get up in the morning and it is their job to really sell stuff. And they know positions in stores—it is a
bit of a science—where you put stuff; when you open a fridge, whether it is at the back or the front; what sorts of
colours you use. It has actually been quite extraordinary that they reverse-engineered that. Particularly, Senator
Siewert and Senator Dodson may be aware of the Beagle Bay store where, when it was built, the actual
construction and design of everything in that was about sugar. Now, the price of water is almost cost, and that is
all at the front. You have to find the sugary soft drinks and whatever right at the back. All the zero things are right
at the front. I was there when the children opened the doors and rushed in, and they found the sugary soft drinks.
They managed to get through all of that process.
FINANCE AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION LEGISLATION COMMITTEE