Page 3420 - Week 10 - Tuesday, 17 September 2019
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
the collegiate nature in which this inquiry was undertaken. When it comes to petrol prices, I do not think there is a person in this city that thinks that we are getting a good deal. That was clear from both the attitude that members brought to the inquiry and the public submissions that were received.
There was good engagement with the community on this inquiry, where an easy to use survey platform was promoted and used extensively to garner as many views of ACT residents as possible. Often that is a shortcoming of committee inquiries: we only hear from those that are actively engaged on a matter or have a real bee in their bonnet over the issue. It was good to get the views of a broad cross-section of the community, from all areas of town and all walks of life, on the impact that petrol prices have on their day-to-day and household budgets.
Petrol purchases are a grudge purchase. No-one goes to the petrol station to fill up with excitement, looking forward to where that tank of petrol might take them. People do not like spending the money. A bigger frustration, as we saw at the beginning of this year, is the price fluctuations that often occur, not necessarily in the ACT market but in our surrounding markets. When Sydney is at the low end of the price cycle, Canberrans who are travelling are well aware of it. That is when the pain becomes the most apparent. If bread and milk, or all general grocery items, fluctuated to the same extent that petrol prices do, there would be far more inquiries into those prices as well.
What we have learnt, as has been touched on, is that the pricing of fuel in Canberra is extremely stable. There are times when it rises, in line with international markets, very quickly. And, to people’s frustration—it is still an issue that the committee has not fully been able to appreciate—it is very slow to react in a downward direction and pass those savings back to consumers. It is largely going to be drawn, though, by consumer habits. Most people are creatures of habit. They tend to fill up at the same service station, typically on the same day of the week. Pay days are a popular time. We do not go shopping around for the cheapest fuel. The best way for Canberrans to influence the petrol market is to shop around and be shrewd purchasers.
Through the inquiry we heard from a number of people who do just that. They look at some of the apps and websites that are available to find the best prices around town and they travel in search of them. But for most Canberrans that is not the case. So a number of the recommendations, particularly those in this report that have been adopted, have gone to promoting information in a real-time manner so that Canberrans can make informed purchasing decisions when it comes time to fill up their cars.
The committee heard an extensive amount of evidence from the other side, about the cost of doing business in the ACT. It was little surprise to Mr Parton and me, as members of the opposition, that the costs of doing business in the ACT are far more than they would be across the border. We heard from a number of service stations that were making comparisons that the underlying cost of doing business in the ACT can often have a tenfold multiplier, simply because they are based in the ACT, for things such as land rates.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video