“The Federal Government’s announcement that a national FuelWatch scheme will be introduced sounds the death knell for small fuel retailers.

“Under the proposed National FuelWatch Scheme, once a fuel retailer notifies the ACCC of the price at which it will advertise petrol the next day, the retailer is prevented from selling below that price for a 24 hour period.

“This is anti-competitive and will deprive motorists of cheaper petrol." said Senator Joyce.

“Forcing small fuel retailers to stick to an advertised price for 24 hours will prevent them from discounting.

“Motorists will be deprived of cheaper petrol during the day and small fuel retailers will be cut out of the market and forced out of business.

“Once small fuel retailers are driven from the market, motorists will be paying even higher prices than they are now.

“Why won’t Mr Bowen let small fuel retailers discount during the day under the proposed FuelWatch Scheme?

“Today, small fuel retailers can stay competitive by being able to discount petrol during the day – the retailer benefits and the motorist benefits.

“Under FuelWatch, however, the Labor Government will stop small fuel retailers from discounting for 24 hours – the retailer loses and the motorist loses.

“What will Mr Bowen do about the added red tape imposed on small fuel retailers? Under his FuelWatch scheme small fuel retailers will need to notify a Government bureaucracy everyday about their prices for the next day.

“Don’t small fuel retailers have enough to do? For a Government that claims to be interested in reducing red tape, they have a funny way of going about it.

“The proposed FuelWatch scheme is nothing but a smoke and mirrors trick designed to give the impression of doing something while failing to deal with the underlying problems in the petrol industry.

“What value is transparency if it merely confirms that you are being ripped off?" said Senator Joyce


Ends