Page 3608 - Week 12 - Thursday, 13 October 1994
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determined, petrol prices in the ACT have fallen, as the Attorney-General and Minister responsible for consumer affairs matters frequently states. They have fallen - not by a small margin, but by a quite large margin. They have fallen from 75.9c a litre to 68.5c a litre.
The Opposition has never pretended that there has not been a fall in petrol prices. What it has maintained is that the fall in petrol prices has been due to other factors in the Government's policy. We are backed up in that view by the Industry Commission. The price of petrol, internationally, has fallen. The Australian dollar has strengthened in that same period. That is why petrol prices have fallen - not because of this Government's wonderful achievements, unless they can claim credit for world oil prices. Nothing is beyond Mr Connolly, I suspect. The fact of life is that the price of petrol has gone down from 75.9c a litre to 68.5c a litre. Where is the CPI adjustment that you are making? Come on; interject. How do you have a CPI adjustment justifying an increase in petrol prices when petrol prices have gone down?
Mr Connolly: Since it was worked out by your mates Peter Collins and John Fahey, you had better ask them.
MR HUMPHRIES: So, it has nothing to do with the CPI; it has to do with what New South Wales is doing. I assume that the Government will now withdraw this explanatory memorandum which claims that it is due to CPI increases and - - -
Mr Connolly: No; it is due to CPI increases in New South Wales.
MR HUMPHRIES: The CPI has not gone up. The CPI has gone down. That is a fact of life. You people should be reducing petrol prices, not increasing them. You should be reducing taxation on petrol, not increasing it. Because you are putting up petrol prices at the same time as petrol prices have gone down, you are not only increasing the actual amount that you are taking in petrol tax but also increasing quite significantly the proportion that the Government is taking of the total petrol dollar. In the present environment, where those opposite have traded consistently on being a friend of the ACT motorist, that is utterly outrageous and an example of the grossest hypocrisy.
Why does our petrol price have to be brought into line with petrol prices in New South Wales? I would suggest, for three reasons, that it is a false argument. First of all, other States do not do it. For example, Queensland does not follow the New South Wales lead by increasing State franchise fees. Indeed, they do not have a State franchise fee in Queensland. Secondly, the ACT already has significant differences between itself and New South Wales in its policy on the taxation regimes, most particularly with respect to the diesel fuel off-road exemption scheme. There is a very significant difference between our two jurisdictions. It does not seem to bother this Government. The third and perhaps most important point is that petrol prices in the ACT are already significantly higher than they are in New South Wales. They are higher than they are in New South Wales for the reason indicated in Mr Connolly's working paper on petrol prices - - -
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