My sister just told me that Country VIC supermarkets (e.g. Warburton) are asking people to prove they are locals via the Postcode on their Driver's Licences before selling certain stockpile items. e.g. TP, Rice, Pasta, Meat.
It made me curious, so of course I come to OzB for legal advice - is this discrimination legal for proprietors to enforce? Have any of you encountered it?
We've just decided to CANCEL the VIC. leg of our
cross-country caravan trip across AU
Congrats Victoria! š
One Sulk less, Victoria will prosper!
Victoria dodged a bullet there.
Why do you type your posts
as if you were writing a poem?
Is there any reason for this?
I really cannot fathom.
Are you aware you're doing this?
Or are you simply taking the piss?
So many questions I want to ask.
But first I must complete my tasks.
You must remember the IMPORTANT part
In each verse there must be
At least one word in capitals
If not TWO
This way it makes it harder
For other people to read
Because SCREW the reader
Their opinion is wrong
What did you type this comment with, a typewriter? At any rate, you should be cancelling your entire trip.
What about those who regularly visit a specific country town and are somewhat an active member in the community?
I only went to primary school and occasionally visited friends in a country town in NSW, but my brother regularly visited it.
My brother:
went to primary school and high school there, was an active member at the local higher education provider (was never a student there though), went to the local church with friends occasionally (the town is highly religious so everyone in the community would have been there), and volunteered in the town.
If my brother went to the town supermarket and wasn't allowed to buy certain things due to his license having a Sydney address on it wouldn't that seem a little unfair?
Individual cases are difficult to encompass obviously.
Was your brother a regular customer of the shop / supermarket in that town?
No? Even if he regularly visited, he still lives elsewhere and can buy from shops there. Shouldn't be making extended visits to anyone in the middle of a pandemic anyway.
This, What really gets me going at the moment is the āI wonāt get itā mentality.
Problem is, if by any reason you get it (and thereās many reported cases of people with the COVID-19 virus without showing any symptoms), YOU start spreading it!
Everyone needs to chill out, minimise non-essential interactions and it will vastly reduce the spread and therefore chance of anyone contracting.
I regularly visit a country town and I am fine with it. I have connections in the community, so I could get someone else to flash their ID for me. Since the panic buying I take my own hard to get items anyway if it's something I don't want to do without they could be out. I also had a biger stash of TP than I needed, so I left a few packs up there with a friend in case anyone got desperate.
My concerns are if someone goes to one of these towns because someone is in isolation and they want to drop supplies on their doorsteps (they can buy them before they leave), someone who has recently moved to the area and their ID does not have their updated address (I'm sure they can provide other ID, pretty much anything with their address on it). I'm sure there are other situations, but they can all be dealt with.
The thing is people in country towns can't drive around to countless supermarkets and stock up on necessities, they would rarely have 5 options. I can go to at least 30 supermarkets within half an hour of where I live and I'm not exactly inner city. People in country towns tend to have lower incomes and can't afford to bulk buy or buy more expensive than usual products because the cheaper brands are out, the people travelling from Melbourne could save money by just buying more expensive options online. It's harder and more expensive to get deliveries to country towns (even things that are grown in the country because of how they're distributed).
There are definitely cases of people going to country towns and stocking up and at least some of them are people who just don't think. When Coles and Woolies started running out of TP for example (and there were people going to country towns even then to stock up) there were other places that still had some, like Big W and milk bars and things. Apparently some little shops still do, I don't need any so I haven't gone looking.
Your scenario isn't what they're trying to stop, but your brother also doesn't need to buy things there, he can take them with him. They're probably out of stock anyway, so he's better off doing that even if they are selling to non-locals.
What about those who regularly visit a specific country town and are somewhat an active member in the community?
I have a caravan in Echuca. We are there most weekends and I occassionally do emergency teaching on my RDO's if required.
I've rarely bought from the supermarkets there. I have always done the shopping at home first on the Friday before driving up. This won't be any different
Perfectly legal (not based on sex, age, race, etc), and makes sense. Country towns get limited enough supplies as it is, and for locals they don't have the luxury of popping over to the next suburb.
You can stop someone from entering your business, or refuse to serve someone, as long as you don't breach any anti-discrimination laws
According to the Australian Human Rights Commission, you're breaching anti-discrimination law if you refuse service to a customer based on certain attributes, such as their:
age
sexual orientation
gender identity and intersex status
race
disability
https://www.business.gov.au/People/Customers/Refusing-servicā¦
Discrimination is pretty vague. I'd assume many will consider "No rural shoppers allowed in metropolitan area" as discrimination but not the other way around.
It's aimed at protected attribute.
What town your in does not come under that classifaction.
So as far as antidiscrimination goes, no issues there.
As far as consumer law wouldn't have a clue.
is this discrimination legal for proprietors to enforce?
Unless it is illegal, and I eagerly await someone who knows of any relevant laws to prove so, it is legal.
Having said that, I don't care either way. At some point, the handholding has to stop.
Does it matter? No supplies anywhere anyway
MATH = Make Aussies Think Harder (Yang spin-off)
Except you're GABD, Giving Aussies Brain Damage.
Not sure who downvoted you for being prepared and moral at the same time. Fixed that up for you.
Good for you IVI. I also usually keep a large stock of items onboard(about 3mnths of everything. Booze included) so was prepared.
My home is big enough to store bulk items like you have.
I walk to the supermarket, bakery, butcher etc so my GHG emmissions are much lower than someone like you who bulk buys
We've just decided to CANCEL the VIC. leg of our cross-country caravan trip across AU
THINK GREEN: Fewer shops = Less GHG emissions
I had to laugh. Of course 'climate change' is the governments responsibility. If the alarmists took responsibility, they'd have to turn off their mains at night, not buy mobile phones, stop breathing and farting, etc.
Of course Urban Victorians are a race unto themselves
Sue the pants off them, BTW use Urban litigation lawyers, that way the money stays with other urbanites.
šš
My Guess is that they want DL's to check if the name is Broden, since probably some smart City Slickers have discovered a source of multiple bog rolls to resell
A store looking after their local customers?
I wish there was more of it. Local Coles, Woolies, IGA, and Aldi don't subscribe to that theory.
I'd patronise any store here in regional Victoria if they did it.
We will probably all be in isolation soon, so tourist $$ won't be a thing.
Yeh, that tourist money would be super handy when the town is on lock down. Town wont be making money if the locals get sick.
what if you have no license, or on legitimate holiday
Or if you fall off a horse and lose your wallet
show them where ur staying
What happens if you're temporarily relocated for work?
You might have some letter to show that;
even a local rental agreement should do.
Serviced apartments? Invoice maybe
I agree with this. I live in a regional tourist town with 20k residents. The labor day long weekend wiped us out with city visitors bleeding our stores dry. The covid19 is showing how selfish and mean spirited people really are. Everyone just needs to calm the **** down.
Yes, same for me. We've seen a few car loads (3 - 4 people) arrive together and each buy the imposed quota on certain products.
I suppose us locals could do the same (i.e. each member of the household) but that is the exception locally.
"A store that doesn't ANTICIPATE & ORDER MORE STOCK, in advance, is a Poorly-Managed store, IMO"
Like, the majority of Coles / Woolies stores around the country?
As long as they do NOTHING to change things,
they're inviting competition from more effi-
ent stores.
ALDI is such a store, and each Sq M of their
store space earns significantly MORE $$ than
Coles + Woolies, we're told.
IF the risk that Competitors may move in does
Not move them to Lift their Games, then their
Shareholders should. After all, they are the
ones LOSING $$, due to "less-than-optimal"
management.
@IVI: I've seen you rants and logic before, but this has got to be the worst you have displayed.
Get a grip, you have no clue.
Even Aldi stores have no stock
You need to visit a specsavers store….
@IVI: My local Aldi had less meat than Coles this afternoon. Aldi was completely empty aside from sliced meat like ham. I was at least able to grab some mince and a roast chicken from the Coles across the street
@IVI: Have you ever ran a Grocery Wholesale/Retail outlet? No? Then sit the (profanity) down.
If you are asking; I do.
How do YOU know that they didn't order more stock but because of all the idiots panic buying were unable to get more?
Store could be on rationing to ensure all stores get some supplies.
They couldn't account for morons who bought 500 rolls of TP…
So…
You prefer the tourist buy (this helping the economy of) from home and just go over to your town and not spend money?
We may actually be living in the same town (though I wouldn't call my town regional. It's just not suburbia). Many of the locals bitch and moan about tourist buying up supplies but as soon as the bushfires hit and people are reluctant to go rural, suddenly the tourist not coming and buying stuff is the real enemy.
Can't have it both ways.
Tourists in the past visit out restaurants, stay in accommodation, visit local attractions and enjoy our warm weather. If they visit our supermarkets they traditionally purchase bottled water, sausages and hamburgers (never more than a hand basket full). They spend more at Dan Murphys than they do at Coles, that's for sure. I've watched it every summer for a bloody long time. Two weekends ago they were using trolleys and filling them with toilet paper, dog food, kitty litter etc. All the shit that locals buy. Selfish d!ckwads.
So when they come to town and spend money on money where you want them to spend money, they are welcome.
When they come and compete, they are not.
That's not how this works. As country towns, we either have our doors open or shut to our fellow countrymen.
If we were to turn away the very people that in better times are our customers, we would be fair weather friends.
Remember, as much as they are buying what we want to purchase ourselves, they are still buying and not simply taking. It is fair game.
(Don't forget, what you may condone today may come back and bite you in the ass later. I don't like the inconvenience of competition but worse than that, I do not like convenient/inconsistent philosophy.)
I prefer AU's Country stores be managed as well as
such stores are in Germany, Sweden, etc.
IF you don't want Aussies to Lift their Game's, &
don't mind their towns going under (like Climate-
Change: "too slowly to notice"), you're not help-
ing.
IF you don't thing Country Aussies CAN do that,
your town or you have, IMO, given up prematurely
It's nothing to do with giving up.
Giving up is thinking that country people are too foolish to change their ways and require shops to protect them.
It's sick that some people will always feel it is the duty of others to protect their convenience.
So people send them 100 of millions of dollars for bush fire relief and are encouraged to vacation there .
Just to find out they can't shop ?
I believe same limits to everyone .
Please don't holiday in the middle of a pandemic. That's just asking for trouble.
I saw a post on Facebook that this was because they allegedly had bus loads of 'Chinese tourists' come to their store and 'buy all the tp, hand sanitiser etc. to send back home'.
Wow. A post on Facebook. It must be true then. /s
lol thanks for the downvotes everyone. I was simply reporting what I read hence the 'allegedly' and the quotes in response to the thread. Didn't believe it for a second and I find it quite racist.
This is BS! China pretty much is out of lockdown since the 8th/9th.
I am seriously considering ordering supplies from China as local supermarkets donāt have necessary items and are always raided out by hoarders…
This is BS! China pretty much is out of lockdown since the 8th/9th.
Doesn't mean there aren't any (int students in particular) still here who have family or connections in China.
I saw a post on Facebook
Well if it was on Facebook it has to be true.
I'll adopt your thinking when you adopt proper paragraphing.
Define your terms… Where is your def'n to be found?
Which int'l standard do you base it on…?
But..but… they're probably on a mobile device! How else are they supposed to type so it fits in the screen?
It's either that, or they're trying to apply justified formatting to their text.
Either way, it's hilarious.
Iād like to counter your arguments I just canāt seem to work out what the bloody hell they are.
Well, it's like a Diji1 argument, except with the smoke and mirrors of incoherence.
Has anyone met IVI? I'd like to now
To see if he speaks like he types,
Genuinely curious who this awesome person is
i like to write
in columns, and RANDOMLY
make words in
capital letters
because why not??!
i like to put Emphasis on my words like This
Fair enough as they might only get one delivery truck every week or two and cannot supply as dynamically.
Where ever Woolies or Coles delivers
to homes, a local shop might have to
lift its game to preclude folks from
"importing" what they want, directly
Shakespeare, eat your heart out
"Hey precious! Well ain't you as pretty as peach. Would you believe I was fixin' to go shopping in my pa's lodge over yonder, and heavens to betsy I forgot my purse! I've got some $20 bills stashed in my britches, but no ID unfortunately. Will that be a problem, dar-ling?"
"Of course not, ma'm! We're just keepin' an eye out for them yella-bellied city slickers."
"Bless your heart."
Mum has been to the shops daily to try to get her usual weeks groceries in country SA. The usual delivery hasn't turned up for today so they are hoping to get two loads tomorrow because the supermarket is empty. She was going to drive an hour and a half to a bigger town, but my sister lives there and said don't bother because they are empty as well. It's getting to the point where neighbours are trading basics, hoping that supply will come back soon.
The last thing they need is people who don't live there, turning up to wipe them out even more for their own stockpile or profits. While I'm sure there is no issue with travellers and tourists who are in town helping their local economy, to have people come and just buy up and move on while the locals miss out would be super frustrating.
It's the Aussie version of Daigou.
It Aussie version of hoarding.
So, why not Out the Town(s), that
are having trouble, & maybe some-
one can help improve the situation?
Thought I'd add to this and say the local supermarket has today implemented that people need to show ID if the staff don't know them to prove they are from the area within 100km.
Tourists and travellers are still welcome however they need to have a chat to management before purchasing.
Bit unfair for people like me who live on a yacht and have a residential address 3 states away that's actually your mum's for free mail forwarding.
I'd be screwed if they implemented that everywhere. My boat can't even make to inland suburbia!
Are you moored anywhere, that you can prove your temporary address?
Right now we are because of Covid. Wenrented a marina berth for the month at least, but usually no it's at anchor because…srcew paying fees.
Well at least your isolated from CV19.
Yes avoid the fees where possible
@BewareOfThe Dog: Yeah absolutely. There's no one around here. Not in the club house not on the boats and the closest house is over a fifteen minute walk crossing old train tracks. Public transport is almost a half hour walk. Uber eats gets lost out here and deliveroo doesn't even exist.
Were just chilling trying not to go too stir crazy.
Maybe one of the apps, that show were
family members or friends are could
help serve as evidence of where you
are, possibly with a photo of yacht
on your screen…?
That's a good point actually yeah. I could show some proof that hey I'm a nomad instead of having a fixed address. A photo of the yatch and or showing them my aus post app with their local post office as my current parcel collect for instance. You'd have to be a pretty cold shop keeper to refuse after that.
You keep my mum out of this.
But she's so nice forwarding my mail n all XD
Yeah she's great, she forwards my mail too.
Look on the bright side. You have a yacht. You're safe from the impending zombies.
Unless they can swim XD
You're on a yatch. I could live off the mussles, sea snails, abalones, seaweed and baitfish practically perpetually.
Haha you're right and we usually do. Doesn't mean I don't love a cheese toastie every once in a while hehe.
Barter 2L of mussels for a loaf and wedge of cheese.
Interesting action; I don't know if it is "legal", but it seems reasonable to me. Stores such as this would rely on the local community to support them year round, so this is intended to support the local community in return.