THE RORT · DOSSIER · COLESSTATUS · EXPOSED
The ACCC: named together in 10 articlesThe ACCCThe RBA: named together in 8 articlesThe RBAWoolworths: named together in 8 articlesWoolworthsJim Chalmers: named together in 4 articlesJim ChalmersAnthony Albanese: named together in 3 articlesAnthony AlbaneseThe PRRT: named together in 3 articlesThe PRRTThe ACMA: named together in 2 articlesThe ACMAChevron: named together in 2 articlesChevronOptus: named together in 2 articlesOptusTelstra: named together in 2 articlesTelstraTransurban: named together in 2 articlesTransurbanWoodside: named together in 2 articlesWoodsideAustralian Banking Association: named together in 1 articleAustralian Banking As…Duopoly & Concentration: named together in 1 articleINPEX: named together in 1 articleOne Nation: named together in 1 articleQantas: named together in 1 articleSantos: named together in 1 article
DOSSIER / ACTORCOMPANY · SUPERMARKETS

Coles

Status Exposed

Half of the grocery duopoly (~29% share). The ACCC found margin expansion during the worst inflation in a generation, and misleading pricing across hundreds of products.

Last on record
2026-10
Named in
11 articles
Across
3 cases

Named in 11 articles across 3 cases 18 connections: companies 9, lobbies 1, mechanisms 2, regulators and bodies 3, parties and organisations 1, people 2

Key figure on file
67%
of supermarket grocery sales controlled by Woolworths and Coles, in a sector the ACCC describes as ‘oligopolistic’ with ‘limited incentive to compete… ACCC Supermarkets Inquiry final report, March 2025
Corporate income tax paid · 2023-24
A$467m
Like its twin, it pays close to the full company rate on taxable income: the rort is in the margins, not the tax bill. ATO Corporate Tax Transparency 2023-24.
on total income of A$48.9bn
11
Articles naming it
3
Cases it recurs across
18
Linked in the graph
4
Figures on file

Fig. 01 / Where this name appears

The Inflation Rort67%of supermarket grocery sales controlled by Woolworths and Coles, in a sector the ACCC describes as ‘oligopolistic’ with ‘limited incentive to compe…8 articles →The Triple Zero Rort$1,501,500Optus Mobile's penalty, announced 6 March 2024, for failing to upload data for close to 200,000 Coles Mobile and Catch Connect customers to the Int…2 articles →The Roads Rort11 article →
Fig. 01Source: article scan · every article naming itAs of 2026‑10Auto-assembled

Fig. 02 / On the record

  1. 67%of supermarket grocery sales controlled by Woolworths and Coles, in a sector the ACCC describes as ‘oligopolistic’ with ‘limited incentive to compete vigorously on price.’ EBIT margins among the highest globally.Source: ACCC Supermarkets Inquiry final report, March 2025Greedflation →
  2. $1,501,500Optus Mobile's penalty, announced 6 March 2024, for failing to upload data for close to 200,000 Coles Mobile and Catch Connect customers to the Integrated Public Number Database, which Triple Zero uses for caller location.Source: ACMA, media release, 6 March 2024The calls that did not connect →
Fig. 02Source: figures on file for this name, each tied to the article it came fromAs of 2026‑10Auto-assembled

How we know

The sources of the 11 articles that name Coles, by the tier the desk declared. A source supports its article, not necessarily a claim about Coles.

Evidence strength · 239 sources across 11 articles
  • Primary 160
  • Official 7
  • Masthead 16
  • Trade 29
  • Aggregator 7
  • Unusable 2
  • 18 not yet graded
Primary
the document itself: legislation, a court record, a filing, a regulator’s own publication
Official
the organisation’s own statement about itself
Masthead
a news organisation with a corrections policy, reporting the primary document
Trade
specialist or trade press
Aggregator
republishes others’ work
Unusable
its own sourcing cannot be established
How sources are graded

11 of 11 articles are graded on every headline finding. How findings are graded

Fig. 03 / Named together

ColesThe ACCC: named together in 10 articlesThe ACCC10The RBA: named together in 8 articlesThe RBA8Woolworths: named together in 8 articlesWoolworths8Jim Chalmers: named together in 4 articlesJim Chalmers4Anthony Albanese: named together in 3 articlesAnthony Albanese3The PRRT: named together in 3 articlesThe PRRT3Chevron: named together in 2 articlesChevron2Optus: named together in 2 articlesOptus2Telstra: named together in 2 articlesTelstra2The ACMA: named together in 2 articlesThe ACMA2Transurban: named together in 2 articlesTransurban2Woodside: named together in 2 articlesWoodside2
The 12 names most often in the same articles as Coles. A line's weight, and the number by each name, is how many articles name both. Grey chords join the neighbours most often named together themselves (two articles or more). Circles are people and organisations, squares are mechanisms. Named together is all this shows: it is not a finding about what the relationship is.
Fig. 03Source: article scan · articles naming bothAs of 2026‑10Auto-assembled

How this page is assembled. The name, status and role are the desk's entity record. The article list, case counts, connections and the figures under On the record are read by script from the published articles that name Coles: the desk's key figures where it declared them, otherwise figures harvested from those articles. A connection is a name that appears in the same articles; it is not a finding about the relationship. Under How we know, the sources are those articles' references, counted once each and tiered only where the desk declared a tier; a grade beside an article is its weakest headline finding, shown only where every headline finding is graded. The page is rebuilt when an article is published or changed.

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