Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

My question is again to the Prime Minister, and I refer to his answer to my previous question. I refer again to the report that I referred to in the last question Fuel industry consultants, Fueltrac, said:

Queensland motorists are paying at least two cents a litre more for petrol than they should.

Fueltrac managing director Geoff Trotter said this was because major oil companies were adding an extra margin to wholesale fuel prices at refineries.

Mr Trotter said the average price of petrol to motorists used to be nine cents a litre lower than in Sydney and Melbourne because of the Queensland Government’s subsidy.

But for the last six months, the price has been running at only six cents lower.

Mr Trotter said:

We’ve noticed that the wholesale price the oil companies charge in Queensland are in the order of two cents a litre higher than what they are down in Melbourne for instance.

Again I ask the Prime Minister: how can this occur? Why, Prime Minister, won’t you instruct the Treasurer to direct the ACCC to formally monitor the price of petrol and, in particular, the circumstances related to this report as they pertain to fuel prices in Queensland?

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