Luke Hartsuyker (Cowper, National Party, Deputy Leader of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Hansard source

There could be few matters of greater interest at the moment than the cost of living and, more importantly, the cost of fuel. It affects every family; it affects every single parent, every self-funded retiree, every carer, every pensioner. Every visit to the shops provides a reminder of how well or how poorly we are doing against rising prices. And we are not talking about luxuries; we are talking about necessities. We are talking about putting food on the table. We are talking about putting petrol in the car to get to work or to take the children to school or to sport. It goes to the question that every parent, pensioner or carer asks themselves every time they visit the supermarket or the petrol station: can we go on living the way we are? We have no proposals from this government on grocery prices other than to launch yet another inquiry, which is grinding away as we speak. On fuel the government has taken some action. It has proposed to put up the price of diesel on heavy vehicles, which will, in turn, increase the price of fuel and, in turn, increase the price of groceries. And it is going to give us a national version of the FuelWatch scheme which has failed so dismally in Western Australia.

Let me start by looking at the performance of the FuelWatch scheme in WA, where the scheme began in 2001. There is no evidence that it has reduced prices. Recent evidence shows that weekly prices are generally higher in Western Australia than in other mainland states. In the week ending 6 April, WA averaged a low of 138.4 compared to a national average of 137.2. The week ending 13 April saw WA with an average of 141.7 compared to the rest of Australia, with 138.9. And so it goes on. The week ending 20 April saw WA with 141.9 compared to 140.4 for the rest of Australia. The week ending 27 April saw WA with 142.4 compared to 142.2 for the rest of Australia. And today, the day when Mr Ferguson’s writings were so clearly exhibited in the media, the price in Perth is higher than in any of the eastern capitals. Where is the benefit?

The Assistant Treasurer told the ABC in April that Fuelwatch would lower fuel prices by 2c per litre. On the same day, Graeme Samuel of the ACCC said Fuelwatch was not about saving motorists money. He said it was ‘not a process whereby consumers might be able to save 1c or 1.5c per litre off their fuel costs’. Petrol Commissioner Mr Patrick Walker, on the other hand, said it would save motorists a whopping 5c a litre. Who is right? They cannot all be right. In fact, on current figures it appears only Mr Samuel is correct. He said it is not about saving motorists money. In fact, the Fuelwatch scheme is about costing motorists money. In the major eastern capital cities, motorists take advantage of the weekly fuel cycle and they tend to buy on ‘cheap Tuesday’. In WA, due to FuelWatch, there is now a two-weekly cycle. The cheap day therefore only comes around once a fortnight. With 76 per cent of motorists filling up weekly or more than weekly, there is a large cohort of motorists who are being denied the opportunity to purchase cheaply every week and have to pay a higher price each other week.

Mr Samuel was asked at a press conference on the ACCC’s report into unleaded petrol in December last year how motorists would minimise their petrol costs. He said:

Watch the price cycles and take advantage of them ... [They] can provide significant advantage to consumers.

But not in WA they can’t. If you have to purchase fuel every week, every other week you have to pay a higher price. So, if FuelWatch goes national, huge numbers of motorists will be denied that opportunity.

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