Inflation is not sparing Australia either, where the rise in the prices of fuels and certain foodstuffs has had unexpected consequences. Thus, the famous restaurant chain KFC announced that, to counter the soaring prices of lettuce, it was going to replace salad in its sandwiches with cabbage.
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And this affair is reacting at the highest level of the State. “Haha, it’s a crisis! My son loves KFC, when he hears the news he’s going to be devastated!, Humorously declares Anthony Albanese, the new Australian Prime Minister interviewed by a local radio station in Sydney on the subject. I have a council of ministers today, we are going to put on the agenda… this ‘Chou-gate!'”
KFC Australia swaps lettuce for cabbage amid crisis https://t.co/xSyqDaIpC3
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) June 7, 2022
the cabbage gatewhere the “cabbage-gate” in French, it is therefore the name of this affair which rather makes you smile. There is, however, in Australia a veritable surge in food prices, lettuce, the price of which has tripled in stores in just a few weeks, is the most eloquent example. This is largely linked to the floods of last February and March, which devastated crops. Added to this, as elsewhere in the world, is inflation, which in Australia is currently at its highest level in 20 years. And its effects are far from being limited to food products alone.
Fuel prices have passed the symbolic milestone of two dollars per liter a few weeks ago. Despite a recent halving of the fuel tax, the price of diesel and unleaded remains at very high levels. “My gas budget was $50 every 15 days, now I’m at $100”, laments Megan, a motorist.
“It’s double the usual prices and to be honest everything is very expensive at the moment.”
To counter this inflation, the Australian central bank decided to raise its key rate. A measure that should relieve wallets in a few months. In the meantime, some like Gronia are cutting back on spending: “I do more free activities, we are lucky in Australia to often have good weather, we can do a lot of walking but I will go to the cinema and the theater less often over the next few weeks.”
Many Australians are currently facing difficult end of the month. Moreover, beyond the jokes on the price of lettuce, the new Prime Minister undertook during the election campaign to raise the amount of the minimum wage.