Chris Bowen (Prospect, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for his question. As the Prime Minister has said, rising oil prices around the world are causing concern for Australian motorists. I can report to the House that, with a rise of $8 in the last week, the current price for Malaysian Tapis oil is $139 a barrel. Increasing transparency and competition in the fuel market has been a priority for this government. That is why we have substantially increased the powers of the ACCC, and that is why we have appointed Australia’s first Petrol Commissioner. An important result of the ACCC’s petrol inquiry was to suggest the consideration of a national FuelWatch scheme. FuelWatch was introduced by the Court Liberal government in Western Australia in 2001 and has received bipartisan support in that state since then. FuelWatch is a scheme which will put motorists back in charge and will give them more certainty when buying petrol. It is a scheme which will enable motorists to map their route between work and home to determine where the cheapest petrol will be today and tomorrow and to make their decision on that basis. We know that there is a big gap between the most expensive and the cheapest petrol in any capital city on any given day. Today in Brisbane the gap between the cheapest petrol and the most expensive petrol is 24c a litre. On 15 May, the day the Leader of the Opposition responded to the budget, the gap in Melbourne between the cheapest and the most expensive petrol was 30c a litre. FuelWatch will enable motorists to find that cheap petrol from their home or from their work on their computer. This will put motorists back in charge.

I am asked if there are any obstacles to the introduction of FuelWatch. I regret to inform the House that there are obstacles to the introduction of FuelWatch, and they sit opposite, because FuelWatch will require the passage of legislation through both houses of the parliament. Obviously, it will be a lot easier with the support of honourable members opposite. Now, we are not sure where they stand. The Leader of the Opposition and others have criticised FuelWatch. Yesterday the leader of the opposition in the other house said they have yet to make a decision about where they stand on FuelWatch, so we are not sure where they stand. But on this side of the House we stand for the Petrol Commissioner. On this side of the House we stand for giving the ACCC real teeth and we stand for FuelWatch while the opposition prevaricates. Some of them say that the better policy is to reduce the excise. The Leader of the Opposition says that. We are not sure if that will be the policy at the next election. They are not sure whether FuelWatch will be their policy, and they are not sure if reducing the excise will be their policy at the next election. The shadow Treasurer was asked whether it would be policy at the next election to cut the excise and he said, ‘Well, it might if Brendan—look, if that is our policy then I will argue for it as eloquently or not as I can.’ That is as certain as they could get.

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