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At Coles supermarkets they account for 32 per cent of sales, with a target of 40 per cent within the next few years. Woolworths is also looking to increase its private label sales. House brands mean big profits for supermarkets. As major supermarket chains give more shelf space to their own brand items, name brand products are squeezed off the shelves. This means less choice, both for customers, with the disappearance of familiar brands, and for Australian farmers and manufacturers, who often find that they must sell through the supermarkets' own brands. They are forced to compete with cheaper, often heavily subsidised, foreign imports. House brands encourage us to trust that 'cheap is best'. Their labels don't disclose the manufacturer, so consumers don't know whom their money is supporting. Best choice - choose Australian-owned brands with a positive or 'No Information' rating as preference over house brands. If buying a house brand, choose Product of Australia first, Made in Australia second. Avoid imports.

This is because the politicians might be concerned they won't receive a handout next year if they do not serve the donor's personal interests. Political donations also provide donors with direct access to ministers. An example is getting plenty of time to speak to them over a fundraiser dinner. This lets donors influence the government in ways not available to regular Australians. The vast majority of donation money comes from large companies, and in the case of the Labor Party, unions too. Aside from Clive Palmer, who donated $84 million to his own party, top donors for the 2019 election include Sugolena Pty Ltd, who donated $4 million to the Liberal Party; Pratt Holdings, who gave around $1.5 million across both major parties; and the Australian Hotel Association, who have previously lobbied against poker machine reform and gave $500,000 to the Coalition and $800,000 to Labor. With so many large donations, many experts are concerned about the influence these companies hold over our politicians. Donations under a specific monetary value do not need to be publicly disclosed. In 2021-22 this value was $14,500. However, this is per branch of the party, not the overall amount donated. Suppose one were to donate $14,500 to the national and eight state/territory branches of a political party. In that case, contributions of up to $130,500 could be given without it needing to be disclosed. The high threshold and potential for loopholes mean that around half of the private funding for the major political parties remains a secret. There have been calls to change the system, including a 2020 bill introduced by Senator Jacqui Lambie, however reform is yet to embaced by the major parties.  What you can do: Avoid buying from companies that take advantage of the system with large political donations. You can check this by searching the Australian Greens website Democracy For Sale. Check out Open Secrets to learn about political donations in the USA Support minor parties and independents trying to make the system more transparent and place a cap on political donations.