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

It is just not true. What the ACCC did say is, ‘We have very real and very grave concerns with regard to the implementation of this proposal.’

With regard to motoring organisations, the RACV said in March this year that it believed that the introduction of a 24-hour rule for petrol pricing as used by the Western Australian government’s FuelWatch scheme would be detrimental for Victorian motorists and would create higher average fuel prices. The RACQ said in April that the government needed independent expert advice that a WA style FuelWatch program really would deliver low fuel prices across Australia. Later in the month the RACQ said:

The Federal Government’s desire to get fuel prices off the newspapers’ front pages—

and they certainly had some assistance from the member for Batman this morning—

at any cost could be at the expense of most motorists.

And it went on:

If news reports are accurate, the Government has conceded [Fuelwatch] will be difficult to implement, that it is not foolproof, and that it only ‘hopes’ it will deliver cheaper petrol. In effect, the only certainty being offered to motorists is more uncertainty.

Again in April the RAA of South Australia said that most experts pushing the WA FuelWatch scheme seemed to be poorly informed. An Australian Automobile Association press release in March said that an analysis of fuel price cycles in the eastern mainland capital cities reveals that motorists could pay a lot less by buying on cheap Tuesdays.

Let us move to the NRMA. It is an organisation that is oft quoted by the Assistant Treasurer. I must admit that the NRMA is a supporter of Fuelwatch.

See this speech in context