Page 1773 - Week 06 - Thursday, 19 May 1994
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revenue, a 3c reduction in the price of petrol will result in some $9m being returned to the pockets of ACT consumers and small business. In this instance we believe that it is more important for the money to remain in the consumer and small business pocket rather than in the coffers of the Government.
Madam Speaker, some will scurrilously suggest that our actions will adversely affect investor confidence in the ACT's leasehold system. The fact is that this is a targeted change in Government policy affecting only the petrol market. The recently released draft report on petroleum products by the Industry Commission stated at page H12:
The retail petrol market in Canberra is unique in Australia because of Government policies affecting the location and siting of service stations.
May I remind members that these policies were inherited from the Commonwealth upon self-government, and now we, as a responsible Government acting in the public interest, need to adopt a unique solution to correct this unique problem. May I also remind members that the working group's recommendation 11 was directed at making a once only intervention in the market to complement its other strategies - for example, recommendation 10, which calls for the acquisition of sites for service station development to be left to the commercial judgment of the market, with service stations being released as part of general commercial land, not as specific sites. The Government has also accepted this recommendation and we will now move quickly to implement the working group's overall strategy so that all participants in the market may benefit.
Madam Speaker, I would now like to return to some specifics about the release of the service station sites I have announced. The Government proposes to publicly invite expressions of interest from all persons who can bring themselves within the criteria specified in the determination I have tabled. In summary, the criteria provide that sites will be released only to applicants who will operate the service station themselves and who are independent of the five major oil companies, their parent or subsidiary companies, their agents or employees; whose infrastructure is not owned by a major oil company; who will give a commitment to act competitively in this Territory; who can demonstrate the ability and the financial capacity to remain in the ACT market as a competitive force; and who will not enter into a franchise agreement with a major oil company.
If an applicant is able to meet these conditions, the applicant will also have to agree, as part of the lease agreement, that for a period of 10 years the applicant will not sell, transfer or sublease the site to a person or company other than to another eligible independent, except with the permission of the Minister; and if, within a period of 10 years, the applicant is taken over by a company that would not be an eligible independent, the acquiring company must divest itself of the site to an eligible independent within a timeframe agreed by the Minister. These are very rigorous conditions indeed, but the Government is concerned to achieve the greatest level of competition and the maximum benefit to consumers.
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