Sarah Henderson (Corangamite, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today on behalf the people of Lorne, Wye River, Separation Creek and surrounding Otways communities in the Corangamite electorate, and the thousands of tourists who travel the Great Ocean Road every day. Over the past few weeks I have spoken out strongly against BP Australia, the operators of the Lorne petrol station. Without warning, and in breach of its lease agreement, which does not expire until 2019, it is closing down the Lorne service station. It has given just 30 days notice; it closes in five days' time. This is contemptible conduct. Local residents and tourists must have a local fuel supply. On Christmas Day the Lorne township was evacuated. We all know what happened and why in Separation Creek, where 160 homes were lost during that terrible bushfire. It is estimated that the Lorne businesses alone suffered losses of around $30 million at the height of the summer holiday season.

Then, when fuel is so vital—still in the middle of summer—BP Australia says, 'We don't give a damn.' This is after selling contaminated fuel which has caused an estimated $150,000 in damage to local vehicles. There has been no transparency, no honesty from BP, and this has been a terrible cover-up in itself. While BP is in a contractual dispute with the owner of the site, Noel Colliver, over substandard fuel storage tanks and lines which have contaminated fuel with water and sediment, BP has acted and continues to act like a corporate bully. It has shown no regard for the fact that people living in regional communities deserve local fuel—it is an essential service. The head lessee of the site, Riordan Fuels, is now trying to negotiate to take over the petrol station with fuel from Shell. Unbelievably, BP is now blocking Riordan Fuels from accessing the site, in contravention of its lease agreement. This means Riordan cannot inspect the infrastructure until after BP departs to take whatever action is required to guarantee the integrity of the fuel it sells and quickly reopen the service station.

I have taken this issue to Assistant Treasurer Kelly O'Dwyer, who has referred it as a matter of urgency to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. I am advised that the ACCC has expressed some preliminary concerns about BP's conduct and has agreed to conduct an immediate investigation as to whether any Competition and Consumer Act laws are present in terms of any breach of the law. I thank the Assistant Treasurer for her support. I will also be raising this matter with the new Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman, Kate Carnell, who has wide-ranging powers to call documents and hold inquiries. As the town's local federal MP I will not stand by and watch BP Australia treat this community with utter contempt. This is the height of corporate thuggery, and I will continue to hold BP Australia and its Australasian president, Andy Holmes, to account.