Nola Marino (Forrest, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak about the failure of Fuelwatch to provide cheaper fuel for both general motorists and the transport industry. I ask: how will Fuelwatch keep fuel prices down for the trucking industry when the Labor government is increasing diesel fuel excise and heavy vehicle registration fees? How does Fuelwatch fix that particular problem for the transport industry? How will Fuelwatch lower the Labor government’s increase in fuel tax from 19.6c a litre to 21c a litre?

The transport industry is facing a triple blow from the Labor government: an increase in heavy vehicle registration fees, an increase in diesel fuel excise, and the failure of Fuelwatch to deliver consistent cheaper diesel prices at the fuel pump in every town and city across Australia. These imposts will deliver an increasing cost burden for Australia’s already struggling small- and medium-sized truck operators and their families, specifically the majority who operate on very narrow margins. There is no doubt that we have some extremely efficient and committed small, medium and larger operators in the trucking industry in Australia. I have great respect for those in the transport industry who deliver 1.69 billion tonnes of freight throughout this country.

The government will also push up prices for every consumer. As trucks carry over 70 per cent of Australia’s domestic freight, the flow-on effect of increased costs to the transport industry will be passed on to all consumers, Australian families, businesses and individuals through food prices. And let us not forget that an increase in transport costs also makes Australian exports less competitive and that one in four jobs in regional areas such as my own is dependent on exports and most exports, particularly agricultural exports, start their journey by road.

Let us look at FuelWatch in Western Australia, my home state. There is no evidence that watching fuel has actually reduced prices. In fact, recent evidence shows weekly prices are generally higher in WA than in other mainland states. Monitoring shows that prices are consistently higher in Perth than in other capitals. Interestingly, the weekly price cycle has lengthened to a two-week cycle, so motorists who fuel up their cars weekly are forced to buy at a higher price every alternate week. That affects the 76 per cent of motorists who fill up at least on a weekly basis. It is a very interesting fact that the ACCC Chairman, Graeme Samuel, has said that Fuelwatch is not about saving motorists money, that it is ‘not a process whereby consumers might be able to save one or 1.5c per litre off their fuel costs’. In fact, the ACCC has been reluctant to attribute any downward pressure over time on WA prices to FuelWatch, pointing out that other forces were at work in the market—the Coles and the Woolworths. And if we are trying to increase competition, what about the effects of FuelWatch on the independent retailers in Western Australia? Many say FuelWatch is driving them out of business.

There is evidence that FuelWatch has given motorists in WA less choice. An all-party report to the Queensland parliament in 2006 noted that an independent fuel retailer, Matilda Fuel Supplies, urged the committee not to introduce price mechanisms as in WA because it would be a disaster for the independents, and we have heard more about that. We heard in the House yesterday the question to the Prime Minister from the member for Cowan, Luke Simpkins, who asked:

Is the Prime Minister aware of the case where a Perth service station owner was fined almost $5,000 for the crime of simply dropping his petrol prices during the course of a day?

The member for Cowan then asked:

Can the Prime Minister confirm that his legislation establishing the failed FuelWatch scheme nationally will contain similar penalties as those in WA?

I, like Luke, would ask: how can it possibly be in the best interests of motorists and the transport industry to prevent service stations from lowering their fuel prices during the day?

In my electorate of Forrest I recently visited Elanora Villas in Bunbury, a retirement village and aged-care facility. Geoff Irwin, one of my constituents, had convened a meeting with a group of residents who wanted to talk to me. One of their key points was that, because of the high cost of fuel, they were rarely able to go out anymore. You can imagine what impact that has on pensioners. Can the Prime Minister guarantee that Fuelwatch will ensure that those particular pensioners will not be one cent worse off under a national FuelWatch system?

How does Fuelwatch assist fuel buyers in small, isolated, rural and regional towns, where there may be sometimes one at best, perhaps two, fuel suppliers? What happens in Walpole? What happens in Northcliffe? What happens in those small towns? How does Fuelwatch work in those small, isolated communities? Do they have to drive to the nearest major centre to fill up on each alternative cheap Tuesday? That would be a good job!

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