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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2001 Week 3 Hansard (7 March) . . Page.. 815 ..
MR RUGENDYKE (continuing):
(6) whether there are tied arrangements between retailers and distributors in the ACT fuel market that have the effect of restricting competition;
(7) any other related matter.
I am seeking support from the Assembly for the ICRC to examine a range of motor vehicle fuel issues, headed by petrol price monitoring reforms introduced this year in Western Australia that require petrol prices to be fixed for a 24-hour period and posted daily on the Internet.
Other terms that I would like the ICRC to provide advice on include whether the best possible retail price for petrol is being delivered to Canberra consumers; whether higher average costs of fuel exist in the ACT compared to other capital cities and our neighbour Queanbeyan; whether genuine competition prevails in the distribution and retail sectors of the market; whether fluctuation in fuel prices, particularly prior to public service paydays and peak holiday periods, reflects a market that disadvantages consumers; and whether there are tied arrangements between retailers and distributors that restrict competition.
The ICRC is the ideal forum to assess whether similar reforms to the Western Australian model would provide community benefit to the ACT. Members are aware that the ICRC has been set up to keep a check on pricing issues, and the type of reference I propose today is certainly consistent with, and within, the charter outlined in the legislation.
Figures published by informed sources show that monthly averages for unleaded petrol during December and January were up to 2.5c per litre more expensive in Canberra than in Queanbeyan. The monthly high in the ACT for January was 102.6c a litre compared with 93.9c in Queanbeyan. Canberra motorists are entitled to ask why, but the petrol industry refuses to provide satisfactory answers.
We hear excuses about transport costs, but these do not wash when you can get cheaper petrol down the road in Queanbeyan. Another excuse put to me in recent discussions with the petroleum industry was the old chestnut of higher costs for petrol station sites in the ACT, but the industry cannot put a figure on how many cents extra per litre should be factored into ACT prices to support this claim. Is it 1c? Is it 2c? No-one knows.
It is time to hand the matter over to the ICRC to get to the bottom of the problem. If we should be paying the extra, the Canberra public is entitled to know why exactly, how much and for what purpose. For some reason the ACT is considered a soft touch, and the petrol industry charges as it pleases, but Canberrans have had enough of putting up with price rises on public service pay weeks and long weekends.
A range of inquiries into petrol have been conducted over the years. The last inquiry by an Assembly select committee into petrol prices reported in 1997. A select committee was established in 1996 to inquire into and report on the means of reducing petrol prices in the ACT. Much has transpired in the last four or five years to warrant the ICRC commissioner, Mr Paul Baxter, applying his highly respected economic expertise to the issue. I contend that my terms of reference are more focused and specific than those for the select committee in 1996. Other issues have arisen that require review-for example,
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