Gordon Reid (Robertson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Addressing cost-of-living pressures is the federal government's top priority. As a government, we have delivered and are delivering a range of measures to help ease cost-of-living pressures on household budgets. Already the government has delivered cheaper child care, helping reduce the cost of childcare services for 6,900 families living in Robertson; delivered two Medicare urgent care clinics on the Central Coast, making it easier for people to access urgent health care that is completely bulk-billed; tripled the bulk-billing incentive by investing $3.4 billion into Medicare, enabling an additional 10,000 people on the Central Coast to access a bulk-billed doctor; and delivered 300,000 fee-free TAFE positions, ensuring those wanting to skill up or learn new skills can do so. We have delivered cheaper medicines by cutting the cost of PBS medications, helping save over $1.4 million for the people living in Robertson. There is more work to do, and this government is getting on with identifying additional ways it can help reduce the cost of living for more Australians.

From 1 July this year, the federal Labor government will also give every Australian taxpayer a tax cut. This will see 66,000 taxpayers in Robertson receive a tax cut equivalent to $1,580 on average across the electorate. This is the cost-of-living relief that will make a huge difference to thousands of families across the Central Coast region, and I'm glad that those in the Liberal and Nationals parties have resolved to support our legislation because they understand that this is good economic policy from the Australian Labor Party.

Another significant cost-of-living pressure affecting families living on the Central Coast, particularly those on the peninsula in the south, is the price of fuel. I continue to be a staunch critic of those big companies who operate on the Central Coast. Many are charging motorists in the region more for fuel than those in places further away such as Coffs Harbour or Dubbo. These places are hundreds of kilometres further away from shipping ports that receive fuel than the Central Coast is. However—and here's the part that doesn't make sense to me—our service stations sell this fuel for 20c to 30c more per litre compared with these places. Further to this, the discrepancy between fuel prices sold at any of the Central Coast service stations can vary substantially. The prices are always higher than in regions outside of the Central Coast. Fuel sold in Umina Beach can often be 10c to 30c more per litre than fuel sold in Wyong, further up north on the coast. Why is this the case?

I've written directly to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to investigate this situation, and I received a very underwhelming response. In its response, the ACCC provided a bureaucratic explanation for why fuel on the Central Coast is routinely more expensive than in harder-to-reach places and why prices vary inside the region. They also mentioned the Central Coast is susceptible to fuel price cycles influenced by the Sydney market. If this were the case, why are oil companies selling fuel cheaper in Sydney than in places on the Central Coast? The answers to our queries have not been making any sense to me, and they certainly have not been making any sense to the motorists and my constituents living on the Central Coast.

Consequently, I've written to every major oil company operating on the Central Coast and requested an explanation. To date, only two companies have responded. In both responses, the companies have indicated that market forces are responsible for fuel prices on the Central Coast as well as international factors like the war between Ukraine and Russia and growing instability in the Middle East. But why is the Central Coast bearing the brunt of these factors? Why aren't other regions? Why is Sydney escaping the pressures that these events are having on our fuel prices?

These responses provided by the big oil companies leave my communities with more questions than they have answers to their concerns. I'm putting the big oil companies operating on the Central Coast on notice. Stop these nebulous responses and stop leaving our people behind. Sell your fuel on the Central Coast in line with other regions. I will continue to hold these big oil companies to account, and I will always fight for the people on the Central Coast and those constituents in my electorate of Robertson.