The nation’s competition watchdog has told petrol retailers they are to pass on the full cut to the price of petrol and diesel stemming from the federal government’s latest emergency measures to ease the pain for motorists.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) told fuel companies that prices should fall quickly as a result of the federal tax cuts announced this week.
But despite some relief from the soaring prices on Friday as hundreds of thousands of Victorians took to the road for Easter holidays, the country’s leading motoring group, the NRMA, warned that international developments might send prices at the pump back up soon.
A deal between the states and territories to use money raised through GST on higher-than-usual petrol prices to fund another cut – of 5.7¢ per litre – to the fuel excise was announced on Thursday morning and appeared to be flowing through to the bowser on Good Friday.
The average price of regular unleaded petrol in Melbourne was $2.31 on Friday, according to the NRMA, but service stations were charging between $2.22 and $2.30 per litre. The average diesel price was $3.05 a litre on Friday.
The latest excise cut comes on top of a reduction of 26.3¢ per litre, which took effect on April 1, and the ACCC, in its weekly report on fuel prices, said that by Thursday average prices for unleaded petrol in the capital cities had dropped by between 7¢ and 25¢ per litre as compared with the day before. According to the ACCC, the average price of unleaded in Melbourne was $2.41 on Wednesday, April 1, compared with $2.59 on March 31, the day before the excise cut came into effect.
The commission warned retailers to pass on the full cuts promptly to customers.
“The ACCC expects fuel wholesalers and retailers to pass on the reduction in excise to consumers promptly and is closely monitoring fuel prices and market behaviour,” the commission’s report read.
“We wrote to fuel companies this week to set out our expectations and seek information about their approach and timelines on passing on the reduction in excise in full.”
NRMA spokesman Peter Khoury said the government’s moves appeared to have taken some of the pressure off drivers.
But a fresh spike in the global oil price on Friday could spell much more serious trouble for Australian motorists.
“The only way we’re going to get relief full sustained relief at the bowsers is for the war to end right and the Strait [of Hormuz] to reopen, and we appear to be going further from that, rather than closer,” Khoury said.
There was traffic chaos in Melbourne’s west on the public holiday when motorists jammed roads as they rushed to a petrol giveaway stunt at Liberty petrol station at Leakes Road in Truganina, with the giveaway eventually shut down by police.
But motorists who spoke to this masthead on Friday – who were paying for their petrol – were determined to push ahead with their Easter holiday driving, despite the still elevated price of fuel.
Filling up his tank at $2.28 a litre in North Melbourne cost David Mathews $130, but he had his eyes on another set of numbers: the 800-metre footrace at the Stawell Gift on Monday.
The middle-distance runner from Moonee Ponds was filling up before heading to Halls Gap to compete in the annual competition.
Mathews said he had noticed fuel prices fall after the federal government temporarily halved the fuel excise to 26.3¢ per litre.
“It’s been handy,” he said. “It’s good given the uncertainty at the moment, but it’s probably not good policy in the long term as the government will have to make [the lost revenue] up somewhere else.”
Also filling up at the bowser was Karthik Modur who was heading to Albury for the long weekend. He said he did consider cancelling given the cost of fuel, but a non-refundable Airbnb booking meant he and his partner decided to stick to their plans.
The slightly lower pump prices due to the reduced excise also helped.
“It’s great that the government has been able to help us out. It’s a global event that is out of our hands, but this is something that Australia has been able to do to help its citizens,” he said. “It would be great if it could last until the war ends.”
Also sticking to his plans was Christian Lale-Demoz, who was going camping in Apollo Bay with his family. “I have noticed a fall [because of the excise cut] but it is still well above what it was before that war,” he said. “But short term it will keep things going, so it will make a difference.”
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Bridie Smith is an education reporter at The Age. A former desk editor, she has also reported on science and consumer affairs.Connect via X, Facebook or email.