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Australia’s Monopoly Is Hidden in Plain Sight

2025-10-28 Science & Technology
355.9k
16.4k
1.9k
ColdFusion
ColdFusion
5.2m subscribers

Australia's Quiet Corporate Takeover: The Cost of Monopoly Power

Discover how Australia became one of the most monopolized economies globally and why this concentration of power distorts daily life, political decisions, and national growth potential.

Short Summary

  • Consumers face artificially elevated prices across essential sectors like groceries, banking, and air travel.
  • Geography creates "thin markets," which political choices then exacerbate rather than solve.
  • Corporate influence demonstrably shapes national policy, leading to regulatory capture and perceived political decay.
  • Analysts link current market concentration to significantly lower projected national economic growth rates.

This episode explores the deep structural issues transforming Australia into a highly monopolized developed economy. It investigates how geographic realities meet specific political decisions—such as handling privatization and reacting to corporate pressure—to cement the dominance of a few powerful players in key industries. Understanding this dynamic reveals why innovation stalls and public trust in governance declines.

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Description

Go to https://brilliant.org/coldfusion for 20% off the premium subscription, which grants you unlimited daily access to everything on Brilliant. Australia is one of the most monopolistic countries in the developed world. From banking, to air travel and groceries. It's all controlled by a few giant corporations. But how bad is it and how did it get this way? In this episode we take a look. Watch or listen to ColdFusion on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1YEwCKoRz8fEDqheXB6UJ1 ColdFusion Music: https://www.youtube.com/@ColdFusionmusic http://burnwater.bandcamp.com Get my book: http://bit.ly/NewThinkingbook ColdFusion Socials: https://discord.gg/coldfusion https://facebook.com/ColdFusionTV https://twitter.com/ColdFusion_TV https://instagram.com/coldfusiontv Created by: Dagogo Altraide Producers: Tawsif Akkas, Dagogo Altraide

Top Comments (10)

@michaelsauer3064 2025-10-28

I sincerely hope ColdFusion doesn't get firebombed over this.

4.3k 49 replies
@KingThrillgore 2025-10-28

friendlyjordies and Coldfusion arent suicidal, are very handsome, know how to swim, and stay on the first floor.

3.4k 30 replies
@rkc62 2025-10-29

The duopoly is so much worse than Dagogo has protrayed: Coles owns the largest chains of liquor stores in the country (and their main competition was owned by Woolworths until recently), and both Coles and Woolworths own some of the largest chains of petrol stations in the country, and use their grocery business to capture customers into their liquor business (by location) and fuel business (by loyalty programs). They are also major players in insurance and telecommunications.

2.0k 112 replies
@slowowned51 2025-10-28

The fact that people still believe diamonds are rare, leads me to believe its not just Australia...

1.7k 31 replies
@Evening_Star_Above 2025-10-28

Reminder that FriendlyJordies, a journalist and a shitposter, got firebombed and had an assassination attempt on him for covering the corruption in NSW. Democracy manifest.

1.0k 19 replies
@riffsnreviews 2025-10-29

😂😂 That new Woolworths CEO sounded like an auto reply email bot.

438 4 replies
@Cadychan 2025-10-30

Say it with me, kids: white collar crime is legal if your victims can't afford to litigate.

288 2 replies
@joshflaherty1160 2025-10-29

The monopoly & duopoly is so much worse in Australia. We have 1 hardware store (Bunnings) 2 nice department stores (David Jones & Myer) 2 cheap department stores (Kmart & big w) , 1 stationary store (officeworks), 1 major retail landlord (Westfield) , 1 stock exchange (ASX) and so much more! There’s no major competition anywhere in Australia

251 13 replies
@Tsaki1425 2025-11-01

Having lived in Australia for a couple of years, everyone knows it is expensive, but your video highlights a hidden problem. The common belief is the high prices were because of the remote location and high wages paid to workers. Your video highlights the actual problem, that effects all of us around the world. Oligarchy and consolidation in industries. They consolidate to control market, market strength increases their political clout, they become-too-big-too-fail and government backs them. The average voter starts to feel the pinch of their power and unrest increases. That is what is happening all over the world. Unfortunately, the powerful are fighting it by claiming safety and blaming immigrants.

238 10 replies
@資産防衛の眼 2025-11-06

The 2010 mining tax incident is a chilling case study in corporate power. The fact that a $25M ad campaign could effectively remove a sitting Prime Minister demonstrates that the "duopoly" problem isn't just commercial; it's deeply political. It proves that corporate influence has become a more powerful force than the public mandate.

26 1 replies

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