The Coalition has today failed a key test in providing practical support for Australian motorists by voting against a motion supporting the Rudd Government’s proposal for a national FuelWatch Scheme.
“FuelWatch and the benefits of greater transparency and pricing information for Australian motorists are under threat from Brendan Nelson and Malcolm Turnbull and the Coalition,” Assistant Treasurer Chris Bowen said.
“In any given capital city on any given day, the difference between the lowest and highest petrol price can be as high as 30 cents per litre.
"FuelWatch gives motorists the power to find the cheapest petrol prices and make significant savings.
"FuelWatch is crucial to giving motorists detailed and up to date information on where to find the cheapest petrol prices at the cheapest petrol stations at the cheapest times.
“The only thing that stands in the way of consumers enjoying the benefits of FuelWatch is the Coalition.
“The Leader of the Opposition needs to come out and guarantee the passage of the FuelWatch legislation through the Senate so motorists can enjoy the real benefits of FuelWatch before Christmas.
“All today’s debate on petrol prices has confirmed is that confusion reigns over the Coalition’s position on FuelWatch.
“The Shadow Treasurer was critical of FuelWatch this morning but when asked about whether the Coalition would support or oppose the FuelWatch legislation in the Parliament he baulked at taking a stand.
“This evening, after plenty of debate on FuelWatch in the Parliament – during Question Time, during a botched censure motion that back-fired on the Coalition, and during a Matter of Public Importance – Australian motorists are no clearer to knowing whether Brendan Nelson and Malcolm Turnbull will vote for or against the FuelWatch legislation.
“The Coalition are deluding themselves on petrol prices and their unfunded excise cut in the same way the Leader of the Opposition today tried to lecture the parliament on the Coalition’s economic record suggesting that ‘interest rates were going down’ when they left office. This is despite 10 consecutive interest rate rises.
“This is straight from the former government that brought us their out of touch claim that ‘working families have never been better off’.
“Australian motorists need a government that is on their side – empowering motorists at the petrol pump – rather than backing vested interests in the oil industry.”
27 May 2008
Contact: James Cullen - 0409 719 879
The Motion on FuelWatch that the Coalition rejected today in Parliament (27/5/08)
That this House supports the Government’s creation of a National FuelWatch Scheme as announced by the Government on 15 April 2008 and foreshadowed in the report of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) into the price of unleaded petrol in December 2007. The scheme would have the following characteristics:
- under the National FuelWatch Scheme, petrol stations in metropolitan and major regional centres will be required to:
- notify the ACCC of their next day’s prices by 2 p.m. the day before;
- maintain this advised price for a 24 hour period; and
- apply the scheme to unleaded petrol, premium unleaded petrol, LPG, diesel, 98 RON and biodiesel blends;
- the extension of this scheme outside of metropolitan areas and major regional centres will be subject to negotiation between the ACCC and local Government authorities in rural areas. Rural local authorities will be able to opt in to the National FuelWatch Scheme—as they can under the WA FuelWatch model;
- the petrol price information collected from these petrol stations will be made available to consumers through:
- an email and SMS alert service informing subscribed consumers details of the cheapest fuel in their area;
- a national toll free number where motorists can locate the cheapest petrol in the area they are looking to purchase fuel; and
- a National FuelWatch website with station by station, day by day and suburb by suburb petrol price information.
Further, that this House supports FuelWatch as the most effective tool to empower motorist with their fuel purchasing decisions, leading to real benefits for motorists including;
- the ability for motorists under a National FuelWatch Scheme to find and access with certainty the cheapest petrol prices;
- the downward pressure in prices as a result of introducing FuelWatch with an independent analysis conducted by the ACCC concluding that petrol prices were on average 1.9 cents per litre less under Western Australia’s FuelWatch Scheme;
- the convenience of motorists being able to find the cheapest petrol via the FuelWatch website, or by SMS or email alerts; and
- addressing the information imbalance in the retail petrol market as outlined by the ACCC’s Petrol Pricing Report, a report and inquiry commissioned by the previous government”.