THE wild disparity in fuel price-boards across Australia is indeed one of life’s enduring mysteries.
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Despite petrol being a staple and pricing supposedly being under the scrutiny of that toothless tiger, the ACCC, there are still more questions than answers.
If the industry is so fiercely regulated, then why do drivers in regional Australia pay up to 20 cents per litre more than their city counterparts?
The dribble about freight costs doesn’t past muster.
The ACCC often cites a lack of competition as the reason behind pricing inconsistencies.
Rubbish.
If the industry is so closely monitored, why are service station operators allowed to jack up the price of fuel during peak periods? Isn’t that blatant profiteering?
And why, when the price of crude oil goes up, are retailers so quick to pass on the higher costs?
Yet strangely, when the crude price drops, as it just has, they are so slow to pass on the savings.
How could it be the ACCC can’t crack down on this absurd price gouging?
The regulator says it can’t prosecute unless there is proof of price fixing among retailers or oil companies.
But what constitutes proof?
Do we need to provide a secret video of oil company executives huddled together in a back alley to prove prices are being kept artificially high?
There can only be one explanation – greed. The proof is there, writ large on price boards across the region.
The fuel price farce remains an enduring symbol of the city-country divide.
In Australia, the annual average retail price of fuel for 2015 was 128.1 cents a litre, 18.3 cents lower than in 2014.
But the watchdog says the price wasn’t as low as expected given that crude oil prices dropped to an 11-year low as global oil supply outstripped demand.
Buying fuel is a need, not a want. And at a time when families are increasingly sensitive to cost-of-living pressures, the ACCC should need no more coaxing
If the price of bread and milk was 20c higher in towns like Junee than in the city, there’d be a Royal Commission. Instead, we’re all being royally screwed.
It’s high time regulators stopped paying us lip service on this issue and took meaningful action.
