❓ Hon Frank Hough questions the Minister for Consumer and Employment Protection about petrol prices in Perth compared to Sydney, given changes in international oil prices and the Australian dollar value. The Minister's response defends Perth's pricing, highlighting FuelWatch benefits and fuel quality standards.
AnsweredQoN 1215Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
According to Alan Jones’ Today Show editorial, when people complained that unleaded petrol in Sydney had peaked at 99.9c a litre in 2000, they were told that that price reflected the international price of oil and the value of the Australian dollar, which was $US38 a barrel and US49c respectively. The FuelWatch web site reports that today’s average metropolitan price for fuel is 85c a litre in Sydney and 95.7c a litre in Perth. Will the minister explain why we are paying 95.7c a litre on average when the international oil price is now down to $US29 a barrel and the Australian dollar is now buying US66c? Hon NICK GRIFFITHS
AnswerView source ↗
The Minister for Consumer and Employment Protection has provided the following response. Because the price cycles that operate in each of the mainland Australian cities are not synchronised - that is, they do not necessarily start or finish on the same day - accurate pricing comparisons cannot be made by comparing prices on a day-by-day basis. This means that on any given day the prices in Perth may be at the bottom of the price cycle while prices in Sydney are at the top of the cycle, or vice versa. For this reason the Department of Consumer and Employment Protection, which administers FuelWatch, compares prices over longer periods. For example, for the two-week period 25 August to 7 September 2003, the average retail price of unleaded petrol in the Perth metropolitan area was 93.5c a litre. Over the same period, the average retail price of unleaded petrol in the Sydney metropolitan area was 91.6c a litre. However, Perth motorists who used the FuelWatch service to identify those retail sites in the cheapest 100 list would have paid, on average, 91.1c a litre, half a cent a litre less than Sydney motorists were paying. This highlights the benefits of the FuelWatch service as Perth motorists are given the unique opportunity to identify retailers in that cheapest 100 group. Over the same period, an average of 33.5 per cent of Perth’s retailers were in the cheapest 100 group on any given day, with up to 47 per cent of retailers selling in that price range on a daily basis. Given the relative size of the Sydney market compared with that of Perth, and the resulting competitiveness this creates, and the fact that Western Australia has the highest fuel quality standards in Australia, for which motorists pay a small premium of around 1.5c a litre, the fact that Perth motorists were able to readily access fuel at prices lower than the average Sydney price over the period is a very positive outcome for Perth motorists. There is a common misconception that crude oil prices are directly related to retail prices. Although product prices and crude oil prices are interrelated, they do not always move up and down together. Crude oil is a major production cost, but there is no direct link between its cost and the final retail price of fuel.
Hon NICK GRIFFITHS replied: The Minister for Consumer and Employment Protection has provided the following response. Because the price cycles that operate in each of the mainland Australian cities are not synchronised - that is, they do not necessarily start or finish on the same day - accurate pricing comparisons cannot be made by comparing prices on a day-by-day basis. This means that on any given day the prices in Perth may be at the bottom of the price cycle while prices in Sydney are at the top of the cycle, or vice versa. For this reason the Department of Consumer and Employment Protection, which administers FuelWatch, compares prices over longer periods. For example, for the two-week period 25 August to 7 September 2003, the average retail price of unleaded petrol in the Perth metropolitan area was 93.5c a litre. Over the same period, the average retail price of unleaded petrol in the Sydney metropolitan area was 91.6c a litre. However, Perth motorists who used the FuelWatch service to identify those retail sites in the cheapest 100 list would have paid, on average, 91.1c a litre, half a cent a litre less than Sydney motorists were paying. This highlights the benefits of the FuelWatch service as Perth motorists are given the unique opportunity to identify retailers in that cheapest 100 group. Over the same period, an average of 33.5 per cent of Perth’s retailers were in the cheapest 100 group on any given day, with up to 47 per cent of retailers selling in that price range on a daily basis. Given the relative size of the Sydney market compared with that of Perth, and the resulting competitiveness this creates, and the fact that Western Australia has the highest fuel quality standards in Australia, for which motorists pay a small premium of around 1.5c a litre, the fact that Perth motorists were able to readily access fuel at prices lower than the average Sydney price over the period is a very positive outcome for Perth motorists. There is a common misconception that crude oil prices are directly related to retail prices. Although product prices and crude oil prices are interrelated, they do not always move up and down together. Crude oil is a major production cost, but there is no direct link between its cost and the final retail price of fuel.
The Minister for Consumer and Employment Protection has provided the following response. Because the price cycles that operate in each of the mainland Australian cities are not synchronised - that is, they do not necessarily start or finish on the same day - accurate pricing comparisons cannot be made by comparing prices on a day-by-day basis. This means that on any given day the prices in Perth may be at the bottom of the price cycle while prices in Sydney are at the top of the cycle, or vice versa. For this reason the Department of Consumer and Employment Protection, which administers FuelWatch, compares prices over longer periods. For example, for the two-week period 25 August to 7 September 2003, the average retail price of unleaded petrol in the Perth metropolitan area was 93.5c a litre. Over the same period, the average retail price of unleaded petrol in the Sydney metropolitan area was 91.6c a litre. However, Perth motorists who used the FuelWatch service to identify those retail sites in the cheapest 100 list would have paid, on average, 91.1c a litre, half a cent a litre less than Sydney motorists were paying. This highlights the benefits of the FuelWatch service as Perth motorists are given the unique opportunity to identify retailers in that cheapest 100 group. Over the same period, an average of 33.5 per cent of Perth’s retailers were in the cheapest 100 group on any given day, with up to 47 per cent of retailers selling in that price range on a daily basis. Given the relative size of the Sydney market compared with that of Perth, and the resulting competitiveness this creates, and the fact that Western Australia has the highest fuel quality standards in Australia, for which motorists pay a small premium of around 1.5c a litre, the fact that Perth motorists were able to readily access fuel at prices lower than the average Sydney price over the period is a very positive outcome for Perth motorists. There is a common misconception that crude oil prices are directly related to retail prices. Although product prices and crude oil prices are interrelated, they do not always move up and down together. Crude oil is a major production cost, but there is no direct link between its cost and the final retail price of fuel.
For this reason the Department of Consumer and Employment Protection, which administers FuelWatch, compares prices over longer periods. For example, for the two-week period 25 August to 7 September 2003, the average retail price of unleaded petrol in the Perth metropolitan area was 93.5c a litre. Over the same period, the average retail price of unleaded petrol in the Sydney metropolitan area was 91.6c a litre. However, Perth motorists who used the FuelWatch service to identify those retail sites in the cheapest 100 list would have paid, on average, 91.1c a litre, half a cent a litre less than Sydney motorists were paying. This highlights the benefits of the FuelWatch service as Perth motorists are given the unique opportunity to identify retailers in that cheapest 100 group. Over the same period, an average of 33.5 per cent of Perth’s retailers were in the cheapest 100 group on any given day, with up to 47 per cent of retailers selling in that price range on a daily basis. Given the relative size of the Sydney market compared with that of Perth, and the resulting competitiveness this creates, and the fact that Western Australia has the highest fuel quality standards in Australia, for which motorists pay a small premium of around 1.5c a litre, the fact that Perth motorists were able to readily access fuel at prices lower than the average Sydney price over the period is a very positive outcome for Perth motorists. There is a common misconception that crude oil prices are directly related to retail prices. Although product prices and crude oil prices are interrelated, they do not always move up and down together. Crude oil is a major production cost, but there is no direct link between its cost and the final retail price of fuel.
Given the relative size of the Sydney market compared with that of Perth, and the resulting competitiveness this creates, and the fact that Western Australia has the highest fuel quality standards in Australia, for which motorists pay a small premium of around 1.5c a litre, the fact that Perth motorists were able to readily access fuel at prices lower than the average Sydney price over the period is a very positive outcome for Perth motorists. There is a common misconception that crude oil prices are directly related to retail prices. Although product prices and crude oil prices are interrelated, they do not always move up and down together. Crude oil is a major production cost, but there is no direct link between its cost and the final retail price of fuel.
There is a common misconception that crude oil prices are directly related to retail prices. Although product prices and crude oil prices are interrelated, they do not always move up and down together. Crude oil is a major production cost, but there is no direct link between its cost and the final retail price of fuel.
Hon NICK GRIFFITHS replied: The Minister for Consumer and Employment Protection has provided the following response. Because the price cycles that operate in each of the mainland Australian cities are not synchronised - that is, they do not necessarily start or finish on the same day - accurate pricing comparisons cannot be made by comparing prices on a day-by-day basis. This means that on any given day the prices in Perth may be at the bottom of the price cycle while prices in Sydney are at the top of the cycle, or vice versa. For this reason the Department of Consumer and Employment Protection, which administers FuelWatch, compares prices over longer periods. For example, for the two-week period 25 August to 7 September 2003, the average retail price of unleaded petrol in the Perth metropolitan area was 93.5c a litre. Over the same period, the average retail price of unleaded petrol in the Sydney metropolitan area was 91.6c a litre. However, Perth motorists who used the FuelWatch service to identify those retail sites in the cheapest 100 list would have paid, on average, 91.1c a litre, half a cent a litre less than Sydney motorists were paying. This highlights the benefits of the FuelWatch service as Perth motorists are given the unique opportunity to identify retailers in that cheapest 100 group. Over the same period, an average of 33.5 per cent of Perth’s retailers were in the cheapest 100 group on any given day, with up to 47 per cent of retailers selling in that price range on a daily basis. Given the relative size of the Sydney market compared with that of Perth, and the resulting competitiveness this creates, and the fact that Western Australia has the highest fuel quality standards in Australia, for which motorists pay a small premium of around 1.5c a litre, the fact that Perth motorists were able to readily access fuel at prices lower than the average Sydney price over the period is a very positive outcome for Perth motorists. There is a common misconception that crude oil prices are directly related to retail prices. Although product prices and crude oil prices are interrelated, they do not always move up and down together. Crude oil is a major production cost, but there is no direct link between its cost and the final retail price of fuel.
The Minister for Consumer and Employment Protection has provided the following response. Because the price cycles that operate in each of the mainland Australian cities are not synchronised - that is, they do not necessarily start or finish on the same day - accurate pricing comparisons cannot be made by comparing prices on a day-by-day basis. This means that on any given day the prices in Perth may be at the bottom of the price cycle while prices in Sydney are at the top of the cycle, or vice versa. For this reason the Department of Consumer and Employment Protection, which administers FuelWatch, compares prices over longer periods. For example, for the two-week period 25 August to 7 September 2003, the average retail price of unleaded petrol in the Perth metropolitan area was 93.5c a litre. Over the same period, the average retail price of unleaded petrol in the Sydney metropolitan area was 91.6c a litre. However, Perth motorists who used the FuelWatch service to identify those retail sites in the cheapest 100 list would have paid, on average, 91.1c a litre, half a cent a litre less than Sydney motorists were paying. This highlights the benefits of the FuelWatch service as Perth motorists are given the unique opportunity to identify retailers in that cheapest 100 group. Over the same period, an average of 33.5 per cent of Perth’s retailers were in the cheapest 100 group on any given day, with up to 47 per cent of retailers selling in that price range on a daily basis. Given the relative size of the Sydney market compared with that of Perth, and the resulting competitiveness this creates, and the fact that Western Australia has the highest fuel quality standards in Australia, for which motorists pay a small premium of around 1.5c a litre, the fact that Perth motorists were able to readily access fuel at prices lower than the average Sydney price over the period is a very positive outcome for Perth motorists. There is a common misconception that crude oil prices are directly related to retail prices. Although product prices and crude oil prices are interrelated, they do not always move up and down together. Crude oil is a major production cost, but there is no direct link between its cost and the final retail price of fuel.
For this reason the Department of Consumer and Employment Protection, which administers FuelWatch, compares prices over longer periods. For example, for the two-week period 25 August to 7 September 2003, the average retail price of unleaded petrol in the Perth metropolitan area was 93.5c a litre. Over the same period, the average retail price of unleaded petrol in the Sydney metropolitan area was 91.6c a litre. However, Perth motorists who used the FuelWatch service to identify those retail sites in the cheapest 100 list would have paid, on average, 91.1c a litre, half a cent a litre less than Sydney motorists were paying. This highlights the benefits of the FuelWatch service as Perth motorists are given the unique opportunity to identify retailers in that cheapest 100 group. Over the same period, an average of 33.5 per cent of Perth’s retailers were in the cheapest 100 group on any given day, with up to 47 per cent of retailers selling in that price range on a daily basis. Given the relative size of the Sydney market compared with that of Perth, and the resulting competitiveness this creates, and the fact that Western Australia has the highest fuel quality standards in Australia, for which motorists pay a small premium of around 1.5c a litre, the fact that Perth motorists were able to readily access fuel at prices lower than the average Sydney price over the period is a very positive outcome for Perth motorists. There is a common misconception that crude oil prices are directly related to retail prices. Although product prices and crude oil prices are interrelated, they do not always move up and down together. Crude oil is a major production cost, but there is no direct link between its cost and the final retail price of fuel.
Given the relative size of the Sydney market compared with that of Perth, and the resulting competitiveness this creates, and the fact that Western Australia has the highest fuel quality standards in Australia, for which motorists pay a small premium of around 1.5c a litre, the fact that Perth motorists were able to readily access fuel at prices lower than the average Sydney price over the period is a very positive outcome for Perth motorists. There is a common misconception that crude oil prices are directly related to retail prices. Although product prices and crude oil prices are interrelated, they do not always move up and down together. Crude oil is a major production cost, but there is no direct link between its cost and the final retail price of fuel.
There is a common misconception that crude oil prices are directly related to retail prices. Although product prices and crude oil prices are interrelated, they do not always move up and down together. Crude oil is a major production cost, but there is no direct link between its cost and the final retail price of fuel.
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