Dick Smith has warned Amazon’s Australian launch will be devastating to not only jobs but also the country’s waistlines.
Speaking on Sunrise this week, the entrepreneur called the company’s practices ‘extreme capitalism’ and said it will leave ‘tens of thousands’ out of a job.
Smith claimed the online giant kept prices low by reducing labour, with the money going ‘back to the United States’.
But in an extraordinary claim, he also said he believed that Australians would get fatter as a result of the launch of the website – because food will be cheaper.
Dick Smith has warned Amazon’s Australian launch will be devastating to not only jobs but also the country’s waistlines while speaking on Sunrise this week
The entrepreneur called the company’s practices ‘extreme capitalism’ and said it will leave ‘tens of thousands of Australians’ out of a job
‘Amazon will take hundreds of millions of wealth out of this country and send it back to the United States,’ he said during the interview.
‘Every time you buy something from Amazon you don’t think “that’s a fellow Australian with kids and a house their trying to pay off who’s just lost their job”.’
While Smith said the government was powerless to help, purchasing locally was one way people could hit back at the online store.
‘At least if you buy from JB Hifi, Harvey Norman or Woolworths, the money stays here and creates wealth in our country,’ he said.
Smith even argued that Amazon would keep prices low by reducing labour and cause people to ‘become more obese’ due to the cheaper produce
Smith also argued that Amazon’s greed could cause extensive problems for people’s weight.
‘We will become more obese because the food will be cheaper – it will be all downhill for Australians,’ he said.
The ‘soft launch’ of Amazon Australia began Thursday with promises the marketplace giant would change the face of shopping in this country.
An ‘internal testing phase’ was limited to a small number of customers who were able to order from the local site.
The ‘soft launch’ of Amazon Australia began Thursday with promises the marketplace giant would change the face of shopping in this country
However, despite the hype, Amazon Australia’s website remained the same Friday afternoon, the day it was expected to roll-out nationwide
However, despite the hype, Amazon Australia’s website remained the same Friday afternoon, the day it was expected to roll-out nationwide.
Tim MacKinnon, the managing director of eBay Australia and New Zealand said they welcomed the rivalry ‘as long as the competition is fair.’
‘We let every retailer big and small compete,’ Mr MacKinnon told News.com.au.
Mr MacKinnon said there had been ‘a lot of hype’ about Amazon in Australia and it would be ‘interesting’ to see whether it could live up to it.