Karen McNamara (Dobell, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise on behalf of Central Coast motorists seeking fuel price equity. For too long the Central Coast has experienced higher fuel prices than Sydney, Western Sydney and other regions throughout New South Wales. Central Coast motorists are fed up with paying higher petrol prices and many have joined my fight for fair fuel pricing by supporting my petition and requests to the ACCC to conduct an investigation into fuel prices on the Central Coast.

In December and January I wrote to the chairman of the ACCC calling for the Central Coast to be included in their investigation into fuel pricing. At the time I launched the Dobell fuel petition, a motorist on the Central Coast filling a 50 litre tank of fuel was paying almost $10 more than a motorist on the South Coast. On that day, per tanker, the Central Coast was gouged an additional $8,708. A week before Christmas this amount was $13,000. Central Coast prices are currently relatively low but, given the volatility of fuel pricing, it is only matter of time before the gap widens again. Central Coast motorist have had enough and we want certainty with fuel prices. Our community is heavily dependent on cars, with approximately 20,000 motorists commuting daily from the region. Coupled with limited access to public transport, the fight for fuel price equality is more important than ever. I call on the ACCC to listen to the concerns of the Central Coast motorists and explain this market disparity.

Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I too am concerned about petrol prices and the fact that in the bush, in regions like my own electorate of Bendigo, the petrol prices are not going down as quickly as they are in the city areas. On one particular day, the Bendigo Advertiser ran a report quoting that the price in the Prime Minister's electorate, in the heart of Sydney, was 99 cents. In my own electorate on that day it was $1.20. There is a difference between prices in the city and the country when it comes to petrol. But there is something that this government can do right now to help people in the bush. I call on the government, and all those people who have already spoken in this 90-second statement debate, to reduce the petrol tax.

This government increased the petrol tax. This government increased what people in the bush and in the city pay to this government in petrol tax. There is something really simple that the people opposite can do when it comes to petrol prices, and that is to stop increasing the fuel excise—what they take out of motorists' pockets. It is great to see them get up and campaign the ACCC. Why don't they campaign their own ministers on this issue and change what they did in the budget to people living in the country. Petrol prices are higher in the country; meaning we pay more in tax to this government through the petrol increases. If this government wants to do something for the bush then they should change their position on fuel excise.