FUEL
PRICES
554. Mr P.J. RUNDLE to the Minister for Commerce:
I
refer to the commonwealth government's temporary fuel excise reduction,
which comes to an end next Wednesday, and the powers that exist under
the Petroleum Products Pricing Act 1983.
(1) Given that
the excise change will increase fuel prices by 22� a litre, how does the
minister plan to ensure fuel companies do not gun the system to gouge customers
during the changeover?
(2) Will the
minister allow FuelWatch to use its legislated powers to investigate pricing of
fuel at this critical moment?
Mr R.H.
COOK replied:
(1)–(2) Obviously,
FuelWatch is the single biggest weapon that the consumer has to make sure that
they are not ripped off at the bowser. It provides a significant amount of
information to consumers so they understand what the fuel cycles are doing and
what is going on in relation to the cost of fuel that they use for either their
business or for personal use. It has been thus for a very long time. Even when
the opposition was in government, it never used this particular provision of
the legislation. I suspect it would expose the state to some egregious legal
responses if we were to simply try to legislate away the impact of
international oil prices. Western Australia is not immune to those prices but
we do have the lowest cost of living, the lowest unemployment rates and the
strongest economy in the nation, so we are in a better position than any other
state to deal with the impacts of any price rises that might impact the
consumer.