❓ Mr Templeman questions the justification for an 8c overnight petrol price increase. Minister Kobelke acknowledges the increase is unjustifiable and outlines government actions to increase transparency and pursue non-compliance by oil companies.
AnsweredQoN 353Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
UNLEADED PETROL PRICE INCREASE 353. Mr TEMPLEMAN to the Minister for Consumer and Employment Protection: Is the 8c per litre overnight increase in unleaded petrol justifiable? Mr Graham: No, it is not. Mr KOBELKE
AnswerView source ↗
The question was correctly answered before I got to my feet. However, I wish to thank the member for the question. He has a very keen interest in the matter because the people from his electorate have to travel considerable distances - many of them have to drive to Perth - and the price of petrol is a key issue for them, as it is in the electorates of many members. I am conscious that people living in my electorate do not have to travel the long distances that constituents in the electorate of Mandurah and many other electorates must travel. That makes those members very conscious of any increases in the price of petrol. The 8c per litre increase overnight, led by BP Australia Ltd and followed by other companies, cannot be justified. There has been a slight increase in the international price of fuel, but that is nowhere near enough to justify an 8c per litre increase. Through the range of regulatory mechanisms that have been put in place, this Government is achieving much greater transparency in petrol pricing. On 21 August, the new declared regulations applying to metropolitan terminals require that oil companies provide invoices and that those invoices present greater transparency and level of detail on how the companies structure their costs to the service stations. Unfortunately, a number of oil companies are not complying with that requirement, and we are committed to ensuring that they do comply with it. The closure of the section 22J loophole is also in place, which gives greater certainty in this area and enables us to warn people. Mr Graham interjected. The SPEAKER: Order, member! Mr KOBELKE: The failure of companies to provide fuel at the maximum wholesale price is being pursued, and I inform the House that we are currently proceeding with two prosecutions from service stations that could not get fuel at the maximum wholesale price. However, as the member for Pilbara said in his interjection, we should take the matter further and we are doing that. The next step in supporting that prosecution and looking for other areas in which we can prosecute, because of failure to comply with those transparency requirements and declarations with regard to invoicing, is employment of forensic accountants. They can go through the records and the accounts of the oil companies. In the first attempt to do that, we found that some of the people who had the expertise in this area, also had a conflict of interest because they had major contracts with the oil companies. Therefore, we had to work through that to find who would have the expertise in this area, without the conflict of interest. We then issued a request for quotation. The first attempt at that concluded unsuccessfully because none of the quotations complied with the specifications. We then went into a second round of requests for quotations, from people who had the expertise and could work as consultants on this forensic accounting. That process will conclude within a matter of days, and I hope we will then be able to contract a company to undertake this work and go through the books of the oil companies as a part of that overall structure making them comply. We would then have a market operating to the benefit of Western Australian motorists.
UNLEADED PETROL PRICE INCREASE
Is the 8c per litre overnight increase in unleaded petrol justifiable? Mr Graham: No, it is not. Mr KOBELKE replied: The question was correctly answered before I got to my feet. However, I wish to thank the member for the question. He has a very keen interest in the matter because the people from his electorate have to travel considerable distances - many of them have to drive to Perth - and the price of petrol is a key issue for them, as it is in the electorates of many members. I am conscious that people living in my electorate do not have to travel the long distances that constituents in the electorate of Mandurah and many other electorates must travel. That makes those members very conscious of any increases in the price of petrol. The 8c per litre increase overnight, led by BP Australia Ltd and followed by other companies, cannot be justified. There has been a slight increase in the international price of fuel, but that is nowhere near enough to justify an 8c per litre increase. Through the range of regulatory mechanisms that have been put in place, this Government is achieving much greater transparency in petrol pricing. On 21 August, the new declared regulations applying to metropolitan terminals require that oil companies provide invoices and that those invoices present greater transparency and level of detail on how the companies structure their costs to the service stations. Unfortunately, a number of oil companies are not complying with that requirement, and we are committed to ensuring that they do comply with it. The closure of the section 22J loophole is also in place, which gives greater certainty in this area and enables us to warn people. Mr Graham interjected. The SPEAKER: Order, member! Mr KOBELKE: The failure of companies to provide fuel at the maximum wholesale price is being pursued, and I inform the House that we are currently proceeding with two prosecutions from service stations that could not get fuel at the maximum wholesale price. However, as the member for Pilbara said in his interjection, we should take the matter further and we are doing that. The next step in supporting that prosecution and looking for other areas in which we can prosecute, because of failure to comply with those transparency requirements and declarations with regard to invoicing, is employment of forensic accountants. They can go through the records and the accounts of the oil companies. In the first attempt to do that, we found that some of the people who had the expertise in this area, also had a conflict of interest because they had major contracts with the oil companies. Therefore, we had to work through that to find who would have the expertise in this area, without the conflict of interest. We then issued a request for quotation. The first attempt at that concluded unsuccessfully because none of the quotations complied with the specifications. We then went into a second round of requests for quotations, from people who had the expertise and could work as consultants on this forensic accounting. That process will conclude within a matter of days, and I hope we will then be able to contract a company to undertake this work and go through the books of the oil companies as a part of that overall structure making them comply. We would then have a market operating to the benefit of Western Australian motorists.
Mr Graham: No, it is not. Mr KOBELKE replied: The question was correctly answered before I got to my feet. However, I wish to thank the member for the question. He has a very keen interest in the matter because the people from his electorate have to travel considerable distances - many of them have to drive to Perth - and the price of petrol is a key issue for them, as it is in the electorates of many members. I am conscious that people living in my electorate do not have to travel the long distances that constituents in the electorate of Mandurah and many other electorates must travel. That makes those members very conscious of any increases in the price of petrol. The 8c per litre increase overnight, led by BP Australia Ltd and followed by other companies, cannot be justified. There has been a slight increase in the international price of fuel, but that is nowhere near enough to justify an 8c per litre increase. Through the range of regulatory mechanisms that have been put in place, this Government is achieving much greater transparency in petrol pricing. On 21 August, the new declared regulations applying to metropolitan terminals require that oil companies provide invoices and that those invoices present greater transparency and level of detail on how the companies structure their costs to the service stations. Unfortunately, a number of oil companies are not complying with that requirement, and we are committed to ensuring that they do comply with it. The closure of the section 22J loophole is also in place, which gives greater certainty in this area and enables us to warn people. Mr Graham interjected. The SPEAKER: Order, member! Mr KOBELKE: The failure of companies to provide fuel at the maximum wholesale price is being pursued, and I inform the House that we are currently proceeding with two prosecutions from service stations that could not get fuel at the maximum wholesale price. However, as the member for Pilbara said in his interjection, we should take the matter further and we are doing that. The next step in supporting that prosecution and looking for other areas in which we can prosecute, because of failure to comply with those transparency requirements and declarations with regard to invoicing, is employment of forensic accountants. They can go through the records and the accounts of the oil companies. In the first attempt to do that, we found that some of the people who had the expertise in this area, also had a conflict of interest because they had major contracts with the oil companies. Therefore, we had to work through that to find who would have the expertise in this area, without the conflict of interest. We then issued a request for quotation. The first attempt at that concluded unsuccessfully because none of the quotations complied with the specifications. We then went into a second round of requests for quotations, from people who had the expertise and could work as consultants on this forensic accounting. That process will conclude within a matter of days, and I hope we will then be able to contract a company to undertake this work and go through the books of the oil companies as a part of that overall structure making them comply. We would then have a market operating to the benefit of Western Australian motorists.
Mr KOBELKE replied: The question was correctly answered before I got to my feet. However, I wish to thank the member for the question. He has a very keen interest in the matter because the people from his electorate have to travel considerable distances - many of them have to drive to Perth - and the price of petrol is a key issue for them, as it is in the electorates of many members. I am conscious that people living in my electorate do not have to travel the long distances that constituents in the electorate of Mandurah and many other electorates must travel. That makes those members very conscious of any increases in the price of petrol. The 8c per litre increase overnight, led by BP Australia Ltd and followed by other companies, cannot be justified. There has been a slight increase in the international price of fuel, but that is nowhere near enough to justify an 8c per litre increase. Through the range of regulatory mechanisms that have been put in place, this Government is achieving much greater transparency in petrol pricing. On 21 August, the new declared regulations applying to metropolitan terminals require that oil companies provide invoices and that those invoices present greater transparency and level of detail on how the companies structure their costs to the service stations. Unfortunately, a number of oil companies are not complying with that requirement, and we are committed to ensuring that they do comply with it. The closure of the section 22J loophole is also in place, which gives greater certainty in this area and enables us to warn people. Mr Graham interjected. The SPEAKER: Order, member! Mr KOBELKE: The failure of companies to provide fuel at the maximum wholesale price is being pursued, and I inform the House that we are currently proceeding with two prosecutions from service stations that could not get fuel at the maximum wholesale price. However, as the member for Pilbara said in his interjection, we should take the matter further and we are doing that. The next step in supporting that prosecution and looking for other areas in which we can prosecute, because of failure to comply with those transparency requirements and declarations with regard to invoicing, is employment of forensic accountants. They can go through the records and the accounts of the oil companies. In the first attempt to do that, we found that some of the people who had the expertise in this area, also had a conflict of interest because they had major contracts with the oil companies. Therefore, we had to work through that to find who would have the expertise in this area, without the conflict of interest. We then issued a request for quotation. The first attempt at that concluded unsuccessfully because none of the quotations complied with the specifications. We then went into a second round of requests for quotations, from people who had the expertise and could work as consultants on this forensic accounting. That process will conclude within a matter of days, and I hope we will then be able to contract a company to undertake this work and go through the books of the oil companies as a part of that overall structure making them comply. We would then have a market operating to the benefit of Western Australian motorists.
The question was correctly answered before I got to my feet. However, I wish to thank the member for the question. He has a very keen interest in the matter because the people from his electorate have to travel considerable distances - many of them have to drive to Perth - and the price of petrol is a key issue for them, as it is in the electorates of many members. I am conscious that people living in my electorate do not have to travel the long distances that constituents in the electorate of Mandurah and many other electorates must travel. That makes those members very conscious of any increases in the price of petrol. The 8c per litre increase overnight, led by BP Australia Ltd and followed by other companies, cannot be justified. There has been a slight increase in the international price of fuel, but that is nowhere near enough to justify an 8c per litre increase. Through the range of regulatory mechanisms that have been put in place, this Government is achieving much greater transparency in petrol pricing. On 21 August, the new declared regulations applying to metropolitan terminals require that oil companies provide invoices and that those invoices present greater transparency and level of detail on how the companies structure their costs to the service stations. Unfortunately, a number of oil companies are not complying with that requirement, and we are committed to ensuring that they do comply with it. The closure of the section 22J loophole is also in place, which gives greater certainty in this area and enables us to warn people. Mr Graham interjected. The SPEAKER: Order, member! Mr KOBELKE: The failure of companies to provide fuel at the maximum wholesale price is being pursued, and I inform the House that we are currently proceeding with two prosecutions from service stations that could not get fuel at the maximum wholesale price. However, as the member for Pilbara said in his interjection, we should take the matter further and we are doing that. The next step in supporting that prosecution and looking for other areas in which we can prosecute, because of failure to comply with those transparency requirements and declarations with regard to invoicing, is employment of forensic accountants. They can go through the records and the accounts of the oil companies. In the first attempt to do that, we found that some of the people who had the expertise in this area, also had a conflict of interest because they had major contracts with the oil companies. Therefore, we had to work through that to find who would have the expertise in this area, without the conflict of interest. We then issued a request for quotation. The first attempt at that concluded unsuccessfully because none of the quotations complied with the specifications. We then went into a second round of requests for quotations, from people who had the expertise and could work as consultants on this forensic accounting. That process will conclude within a matter of days, and I hope we will then be able to contract a company to undertake this work and go through the books of the oil companies as a part of that overall structure making them comply. We would then have a market operating to the benefit of Western Australian motorists.
Through the range of regulatory mechanisms that have been put in place, this Government is achieving much greater transparency in petrol pricing. On 21 August, the new declared regulations applying to metropolitan terminals require that oil companies provide invoices and that those invoices present greater transparency and level of detail on how the companies structure their costs to the service stations. Unfortunately, a number of oil companies are not complying with that requirement, and we are committed to ensuring that they do comply with it. The closure of the section 22J loophole is also in place, which gives greater certainty in this area and enables us to warn people. Mr Graham interjected. The SPEAKER: Order, member! Mr KOBELKE: The failure of companies to provide fuel at the maximum wholesale price is being pursued, and I inform the House that we are currently proceeding with two prosecutions from service stations that could not get fuel at the maximum wholesale price. However, as the member for Pilbara said in his interjection, we should take the matter further and we are doing that. The next step in supporting that prosecution and looking for other areas in which we can prosecute, because of failure to comply with those transparency requirements and declarations with regard to invoicing, is employment of forensic accountants. They can go through the records and the accounts of the oil companies. In the first attempt to do that, we found that some of the people who had the expertise in this area, also had a conflict of interest because they had major contracts with the oil companies. Therefore, we had to work through that to find who would have the expertise in this area, without the conflict of interest. We then issued a request for quotation. The first attempt at that concluded unsuccessfully because none of the quotations complied with the specifications. We then went into a second round of requests for quotations, from people who had the expertise and could work as consultants on this forensic accounting. That process will conclude within a matter of days, and I hope we will then be able to contract a company to undertake this work and go through the books of the oil companies as a part of that overall structure making them comply. We would then have a market operating to the benefit of Western Australian motorists.
Mr Graham interjected. The SPEAKER: Order, member! Mr KOBELKE: The failure of companies to provide fuel at the maximum wholesale price is being pursued, and I inform the House that we are currently proceeding with two prosecutions from service stations that could not get fuel at the maximum wholesale price. However, as the member for Pilbara said in his interjection, we should take the matter further and we are doing that. The next step in supporting that prosecution and looking for other areas in which we can prosecute, because of failure to comply with those transparency requirements and declarations with regard to invoicing, is employment of forensic accountants. They can go through the records and the accounts of the oil companies. In the first attempt to do that, we found that some of the people who had the expertise in this area, also had a conflict of interest because they had major contracts with the oil companies. Therefore, we had to work through that to find who would have the expertise in this area, without the conflict of interest. We then issued a request for quotation. The first attempt at that concluded unsuccessfully because none of the quotations complied with the specifications. We then went into a second round of requests for quotations, from people who had the expertise and could work as consultants on this forensic accounting. That process will conclude within a matter of days, and I hope we will then be able to contract a company to undertake this work and go through the books of the oil companies as a part of that overall structure making them comply. We would then have a market operating to the benefit of Western Australian motorists.
The SPEAKER: Order, member! Mr KOBELKE: The failure of companies to provide fuel at the maximum wholesale price is being pursued, and I inform the House that we are currently proceeding with two prosecutions from service stations that could not get fuel at the maximum wholesale price. However, as the member for Pilbara said in his interjection, we should take the matter further and we are doing that. The next step in supporting that prosecution and looking for other areas in which we can prosecute, because of failure to comply with those transparency requirements and declarations with regard to invoicing, is employment of forensic accountants. They can go through the records and the accounts of the oil companies. In the first attempt to do that, we found that some of the people who had the expertise in this area, also had a conflict of interest because they had major contracts with the oil companies. Therefore, we had to work through that to find who would have the expertise in this area, without the conflict of interest. We then issued a request for quotation. The first attempt at that concluded unsuccessfully because none of the quotations complied with the specifications. We then went into a second round of requests for quotations, from people who had the expertise and could work as consultants on this forensic accounting. That process will conclude within a matter of days, and I hope we will then be able to contract a company to undertake this work and go through the books of the oil companies as a part of that overall structure making them comply. We would then have a market operating to the benefit of Western Australian motorists.
Mr KOBELKE: The failure of companies to provide fuel at the maximum wholesale price is being pursued, and I inform the House that we are currently proceeding with two prosecutions from service stations that could not get fuel at the maximum wholesale price. However, as the member for Pilbara said in his interjection, we should take the matter further and we are doing that. The next step in supporting that prosecution and looking for other areas in which we can prosecute, because of failure to comply with those transparency requirements and declarations with regard to invoicing, is employment of forensic accountants. They can go through the records and the accounts of the oil companies. In the first attempt to do that, we found that some of the people who had the expertise in this area, also had a conflict of interest because they had major contracts with the oil companies. Therefore, we had to work through that to find who would have the expertise in this area, without the conflict of interest. We then issued a request for quotation. The first attempt at that concluded unsuccessfully because none of the quotations complied with the specifications. We then went into a second round of requests for quotations, from people who had the expertise and could work as consultants on this forensic accounting. That process will conclude within a matter of days, and I hope we will then be able to contract a company to undertake this work and go through the books of the oil companies as a part of that overall structure making them comply. We would then have a market operating to the benefit of Western Australian motorists.
The next step in supporting that prosecution and looking for other areas in which we can prosecute, because of failure to comply with those transparency requirements and declarations with regard to invoicing, is employment of forensic accountants. They can go through the records and the accounts of the oil companies. In the first attempt to do that, we found that some of the people who had the expertise in this area, also had a conflict of interest because they had major contracts with the oil companies. Therefore, we had to work through that to find who would have the expertise in this area, without the conflict of interest. We then issued a request for quotation. The first attempt at that concluded unsuccessfully because none of the quotations complied with the specifications. We then went into a second round of requests for quotations, from people who had the expertise and could work as consultants on this forensic accounting. That process will conclude within a matter of days, and I hope we will then be able to contract a company to undertake this work and go through the books of the oil companies as a part of that overall structure making them comply. We would then have a market operating to the benefit of Western Australian motorists.
UNLEADED PETROL PRICE INCREASE
Is the 8c per litre overnight increase in unleaded petrol justifiable? Mr Graham: No, it is not. Mr KOBELKE replied: The question was correctly answered before I got to my feet. However, I wish to thank the member for the question. He has a very keen interest in the matter because the people from his electorate have to travel considerable distances - many of them have to drive to Perth - and the price of petrol is a key issue for them, as it is in the electorates of many members. I am conscious that people living in my electorate do not have to travel the long distances that constituents in the electorate of Mandurah and many other electorates must travel. That makes those members very conscious of any increases in the price of petrol. The 8c per litre increase overnight, led by BP Australia Ltd and followed by other companies, cannot be justified. There has been a slight increase in the international price of fuel, but that is nowhere near enough to justify an 8c per litre increase. Through the range of regulatory mechanisms that have been put in place, this Government is achieving much greater transparency in petrol pricing. On 21 August, the new declared regulations applying to metropolitan terminals require that oil companies provide invoices and that those invoices present greater transparency and level of detail on how the companies structure their costs to the service stations. Unfortunately, a number of oil companies are not complying with that requirement, and we are committed to ensuring that they do comply with it. The closure of the section 22J loophole is also in place, which gives greater certainty in this area and enables us to warn people. Mr Graham interjected. The SPEAKER: Order, member! Mr KOBELKE: The failure of companies to provide fuel at the maximum wholesale price is being pursued, and I inform the House that we are currently proceeding with two prosecutions from service stations that could not get fuel at the maximum wholesale price. However, as the member for Pilbara said in his interjection, we should take the matter further and we are doing that. The next step in supporting that prosecution and looking for other areas in which we can prosecute, because of failure to comply with those transparency requirements and declarations with regard to invoicing, is employment of forensic accountants. They can go through the records and the accounts of the oil companies. In the first attempt to do that, we found that some of the people who had the expertise in this area, also had a conflict of interest because they had major contracts with the oil companies. Therefore, we had to work through that to find who would have the expertise in this area, without the conflict of interest. We then issued a request for quotation. The first attempt at that concluded unsuccessfully because none of the quotations complied with the specifications. We then went into a second round of requests for quotations, from people who had the expertise and could work as consultants on this forensic accounting. That process will conclude within a matter of days, and I hope we will then be able to contract a company to undertake this work and go through the books of the oil companies as a part of that overall structure making them comply. We would then have a market operating to the benefit of Western Australian motorists.
Mr Graham: No, it is not. Mr KOBELKE replied: The question was correctly answered before I got to my feet. However, I wish to thank the member for the question. He has a very keen interest in the matter because the people from his electorate have to travel considerable distances - many of them have to drive to Perth - and the price of petrol is a key issue for them, as it is in the electorates of many members. I am conscious that people living in my electorate do not have to travel the long distances that constituents in the electorate of Mandurah and many other electorates must travel. That makes those members very conscious of any increases in the price of petrol. The 8c per litre increase overnight, led by BP Australia Ltd and followed by other companies, cannot be justified. There has been a slight increase in the international price of fuel, but that is nowhere near enough to justify an 8c per litre increase. Through the range of regulatory mechanisms that have been put in place, this Government is achieving much greater transparency in petrol pricing. On 21 August, the new declared regulations applying to metropolitan terminals require that oil companies provide invoices and that those invoices present greater transparency and level of detail on how the companies structure their costs to the service stations. Unfortunately, a number of oil companies are not complying with that requirement, and we are committed to ensuring that they do comply with it. The closure of the section 22J loophole is also in place, which gives greater certainty in this area and enables us to warn people. Mr Graham interjected. The SPEAKER: Order, member! Mr KOBELKE: The failure of companies to provide fuel at the maximum wholesale price is being pursued, and I inform the House that we are currently proceeding with two prosecutions from service stations that could not get fuel at the maximum wholesale price. However, as the member for Pilbara said in his interjection, we should take the matter further and we are doing that. The next step in supporting that prosecution and looking for other areas in which we can prosecute, because of failure to comply with those transparency requirements and declarations with regard to invoicing, is employment of forensic accountants. They can go through the records and the accounts of the oil companies. In the first attempt to do that, we found that some of the people who had the expertise in this area, also had a conflict of interest because they had major contracts with the oil companies. Therefore, we had to work through that to find who would have the expertise in this area, without the conflict of interest. We then issued a request for quotation. The first attempt at that concluded unsuccessfully because none of the quotations complied with the specifications. We then went into a second round of requests for quotations, from people who had the expertise and could work as consultants on this forensic accounting. That process will conclude within a matter of days, and I hope we will then be able to contract a company to undertake this work and go through the books of the oil companies as a part of that overall structure making them comply. We would then have a market operating to the benefit of Western Australian motorists.
Mr KOBELKE replied: The question was correctly answered before I got to my feet. However, I wish to thank the member for the question. He has a very keen interest in the matter because the people from his electorate have to travel considerable distances - many of them have to drive to Perth - and the price of petrol is a key issue for them, as it is in the electorates of many members. I am conscious that people living in my electorate do not have to travel the long distances that constituents in the electorate of Mandurah and many other electorates must travel. That makes those members very conscious of any increases in the price of petrol. The 8c per litre increase overnight, led by BP Australia Ltd and followed by other companies, cannot be justified. There has been a slight increase in the international price of fuel, but that is nowhere near enough to justify an 8c per litre increase. Through the range of regulatory mechanisms that have been put in place, this Government is achieving much greater transparency in petrol pricing. On 21 August, the new declared regulations applying to metropolitan terminals require that oil companies provide invoices and that those invoices present greater transparency and level of detail on how the companies structure their costs to the service stations. Unfortunately, a number of oil companies are not complying with that requirement, and we are committed to ensuring that they do comply with it. The closure of the section 22J loophole is also in place, which gives greater certainty in this area and enables us to warn people. Mr Graham interjected. The SPEAKER: Order, member! Mr KOBELKE: The failure of companies to provide fuel at the maximum wholesale price is being pursued, and I inform the House that we are currently proceeding with two prosecutions from service stations that could not get fuel at the maximum wholesale price. However, as the member for Pilbara said in his interjection, we should take the matter further and we are doing that. The next step in supporting that prosecution and looking for other areas in which we can prosecute, because of failure to comply with those transparency requirements and declarations with regard to invoicing, is employment of forensic accountants. They can go through the records and the accounts of the oil companies. In the first attempt to do that, we found that some of the people who had the expertise in this area, also had a conflict of interest because they had major contracts with the oil companies. Therefore, we had to work through that to find who would have the expertise in this area, without the conflict of interest. We then issued a request for quotation. The first attempt at that concluded unsuccessfully because none of the quotations complied with the specifications. We then went into a second round of requests for quotations, from people who had the expertise and could work as consultants on this forensic accounting. That process will conclude within a matter of days, and I hope we will then be able to contract a company to undertake this work and go through the books of the oil companies as a part of that overall structure making them comply. We would then have a market operating to the benefit of Western Australian motorists.
The question was correctly answered before I got to my feet. However, I wish to thank the member for the question. He has a very keen interest in the matter because the people from his electorate have to travel considerable distances - many of them have to drive to Perth - and the price of petrol is a key issue for them, as it is in the electorates of many members. I am conscious that people living in my electorate do not have to travel the long distances that constituents in the electorate of Mandurah and many other electorates must travel. That makes those members very conscious of any increases in the price of petrol. The 8c per litre increase overnight, led by BP Australia Ltd and followed by other companies, cannot be justified. There has been a slight increase in the international price of fuel, but that is nowhere near enough to justify an 8c per litre increase. Through the range of regulatory mechanisms that have been put in place, this Government is achieving much greater transparency in petrol pricing. On 21 August, the new declared regulations applying to metropolitan terminals require that oil companies provide invoices and that those invoices present greater transparency and level of detail on how the companies structure their costs to the service stations. Unfortunately, a number of oil companies are not complying with that requirement, and we are committed to ensuring that they do comply with it. The closure of the section 22J loophole is also in place, which gives greater certainty in this area and enables us to warn people. Mr Graham interjected. The SPEAKER: Order, member! Mr KOBELKE: The failure of companies to provide fuel at the maximum wholesale price is being pursued, and I inform the House that we are currently proceeding with two prosecutions from service stations that could not get fuel at the maximum wholesale price. However, as the member for Pilbara said in his interjection, we should take the matter further and we are doing that. The next step in supporting that prosecution and looking for other areas in which we can prosecute, because of failure to comply with those transparency requirements and declarations with regard to invoicing, is employment of forensic accountants. They can go through the records and the accounts of the oil companies. In the first attempt to do that, we found that some of the people who had the expertise in this area, also had a conflict of interest because they had major contracts with the oil companies. Therefore, we had to work through that to find who would have the expertise in this area, without the conflict of interest. We then issued a request for quotation. The first attempt at that concluded unsuccessfully because none of the quotations complied with the specifications. We then went into a second round of requests for quotations, from people who had the expertise and could work as consultants on this forensic accounting. That process will conclude within a matter of days, and I hope we will then be able to contract a company to undertake this work and go through the books of the oil companies as a part of that overall structure making them comply. We would then have a market operating to the benefit of Western Australian motorists.
Through the range of regulatory mechanisms that have been put in place, this Government is achieving much greater transparency in petrol pricing. On 21 August, the new declared regulations applying to metropolitan terminals require that oil companies provide invoices and that those invoices present greater transparency and level of detail on how the companies structure their costs to the service stations. Unfortunately, a number of oil companies are not complying with that requirement, and we are committed to ensuring that they do comply with it. The closure of the section 22J loophole is also in place, which gives greater certainty in this area and enables us to warn people. Mr Graham interjected. The SPEAKER: Order, member! Mr KOBELKE: The failure of companies to provide fuel at the maximum wholesale price is being pursued, and I inform the House that we are currently proceeding with two prosecutions from service stations that could not get fuel at the maximum wholesale price. However, as the member for Pilbara said in his interjection, we should take the matter further and we are doing that. The next step in supporting that prosecution and looking for other areas in which we can prosecute, because of failure to comply with those transparency requirements and declarations with regard to invoicing, is employment of forensic accountants. They can go through the records and the accounts of the oil companies. In the first attempt to do that, we found that some of the people who had the expertise in this area, also had a conflict of interest because they had major contracts with the oil companies. Therefore, we had to work through that to find who would have the expertise in this area, without the conflict of interest. We then issued a request for quotation. The first attempt at that concluded unsuccessfully because none of the quotations complied with the specifications. We then went into a second round of requests for quotations, from people who had the expertise and could work as consultants on this forensic accounting. That process will conclude within a matter of days, and I hope we will then be able to contract a company to undertake this work and go through the books of the oil companies as a part of that overall structure making them comply. We would then have a market operating to the benefit of Western Australian motorists.
Mr Graham interjected. The SPEAKER: Order, member! Mr KOBELKE: The failure of companies to provide fuel at the maximum wholesale price is being pursued, and I inform the House that we are currently proceeding with two prosecutions from service stations that could not get fuel at the maximum wholesale price. However, as the member for Pilbara said in his interjection, we should take the matter further and we are doing that. The next step in supporting that prosecution and looking for other areas in which we can prosecute, because of failure to comply with those transparency requirements and declarations with regard to invoicing, is employment of forensic accountants. They can go through the records and the accounts of the oil companies. In the first attempt to do that, we found that some of the people who had the expertise in this area, also had a conflict of interest because they had major contracts with the oil companies. Therefore, we had to work through that to find who would have the expertise in this area, without the conflict of interest. We then issued a request for quotation. The first attempt at that concluded unsuccessfully because none of the quotations complied with the specifications. We then went into a second round of requests for quotations, from people who had the expertise and could work as consultants on this forensic accounting. That process will conclude within a matter of days, and I hope we will then be able to contract a company to undertake this work and go through the books of the oil companies as a part of that overall structure making them comply. We would then have a market operating to the benefit of Western Australian motorists.
The SPEAKER: Order, member! Mr KOBELKE: The failure of companies to provide fuel at the maximum wholesale price is being pursued, and I inform the House that we are currently proceeding with two prosecutions from service stations that could not get fuel at the maximum wholesale price. However, as the member for Pilbara said in his interjection, we should take the matter further and we are doing that. The next step in supporting that prosecution and looking for other areas in which we can prosecute, because of failure to comply with those transparency requirements and declarations with regard to invoicing, is employment of forensic accountants. They can go through the records and the accounts of the oil companies. In the first attempt to do that, we found that some of the people who had the expertise in this area, also had a conflict of interest because they had major contracts with the oil companies. Therefore, we had to work through that to find who would have the expertise in this area, without the conflict of interest. We then issued a request for quotation. The first attempt at that concluded unsuccessfully because none of the quotations complied with the specifications. We then went into a second round of requests for quotations, from people who had the expertise and could work as consultants on this forensic accounting. That process will conclude within a matter of days, and I hope we will then be able to contract a company to undertake this work and go through the books of the oil companies as a part of that overall structure making them comply. We would then have a market operating to the benefit of Western Australian motorists.
Mr KOBELKE: The failure of companies to provide fuel at the maximum wholesale price is being pursued, and I inform the House that we are currently proceeding with two prosecutions from service stations that could not get fuel at the maximum wholesale price. However, as the member for Pilbara said in his interjection, we should take the matter further and we are doing that. The next step in supporting that prosecution and looking for other areas in which we can prosecute, because of failure to comply with those transparency requirements and declarations with regard to invoicing, is employment of forensic accountants. They can go through the records and the accounts of the oil companies. In the first attempt to do that, we found that some of the people who had the expertise in this area, also had a conflict of interest because they had major contracts with the oil companies. Therefore, we had to work through that to find who would have the expertise in this area, without the conflict of interest. We then issued a request for quotation. The first attempt at that concluded unsuccessfully because none of the quotations complied with the specifications. We then went into a second round of requests for quotations, from people who had the expertise and could work as consultants on this forensic accounting. That process will conclude within a matter of days, and I hope we will then be able to contract a company to undertake this work and go through the books of the oil companies as a part of that overall structure making them comply. We would then have a market operating to the benefit of Western Australian motorists.
The next step in supporting that prosecution and looking for other areas in which we can prosecute, because of failure to comply with those transparency requirements and declarations with regard to invoicing, is employment of forensic accountants. They can go through the records and the accounts of the oil companies. In the first attempt to do that, we found that some of the people who had the expertise in this area, also had a conflict of interest because they had major contracts with the oil companies. Therefore, we had to work through that to find who would have the expertise in this area, without the conflict of interest. We then issued a request for quotation. The first attempt at that concluded unsuccessfully because none of the quotations complied with the specifications. We then went into a second round of requests for quotations, from people who had the expertise and could work as consultants on this forensic accounting. That process will conclude within a matter of days, and I hope we will then be able to contract a company to undertake this work and go through the books of the oil companies as a part of that overall structure making them comply. We would then have a market operating to the benefit of Western Australian motorists.
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