Now Peter Dutton tells us the Government has powers to prosecute hoarders : Why then were daigou "entrepreneurs" allowed to distort the retail market for so long ?

by Ganesh Sahathevan 

Tara Francis Chan/ Business Insider

As reported by the SMH and others quoting former policeman and current Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton: 

"We do have some people who are profiteering, they are hoarding not for their own consumption," he told 2GB's Ray Hadley on Thursday morning.

"If people are profiteering out of a national crisis, then they are going to be dealt with."

"And [we] will come down like a tonne of bricks on these individuals because I think they're the ones who have created this pattern of behaviour of hoarding and clearing out shelves," he said.Mr Dutton said the Australian Federal Police, Border Force and state police forces were in talks about how to catch hoarders selling products on the black market.

"Hoarding not for their own consumption" is precisely what Chinese daigou networks do. The disruption to retail markets these networks have caused  would never have been tolerated in say Singapore or Malaysia.Here on the other hand it has been encouraged, with even Australia Post getting into the action.

It's left to be seen whether Dutton will finally put and end to it. 

END 

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