John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

The facts are that the ACCC does very closely monitor petrol prices; it monitors about 55 per cent of sites, which number some thousands. The view of Mr Harris, who is the federal president of the automotive chambers—that is, the combination of the RACV, the RACQ, the NRMA and the like—is that the price being charged at the bowser in Australia accurately reflects the Singapore price. There has been an increase in the Singapore price for a variety of reasons, including some breakdown in refining capacity. It is not possible to divorce the price of petrol in Australia either from the price of crude oil or from the Singapore price. If the views of the chief of the motorist organisations is to be believed, the price at the bowser painfully reflects the very high world price of refined petroleum—and, in those circumstances, the Leader of the Opposition should understand the reality. I know why he asked the question like this but it does not absolve him from a responsibility to pay some regard to the facts of the situation.

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