NEW Norfolk had some of Tasmania’s highest petrol prices in March and June this year, according to figures released by the RACT last week. The motoring organisation is calling for legislation to make it compulsory for fuel retailers to provide real-time reporting of their bowser prices.
“Tasmanians have been paying too much for fuel for too long,” RACT executive general manager Stacey Pennicott said. “We have been lobbying the State Government for some time to take action on fuel, but to date the measures put in place – such as the GasBuddy app – have been ineffective,” she said.
“It is time for government-led, centralised real-time fuel price information to be made available to the public. This would involve retailers being required to share their pricing, as well as all levels of government actively monitoring prices to address unjustifiable and excessive differences.”
The RACT’s figures (sourced from the ACCC) show that the monthly average price of fuel in New Norfolk was 148.8 cents per litre in March and 154.9 in June. For the same periods, the monthly average price in Hobart was slightly lower at 143.9 and 153.4, which was consistently higher than the mainland capital cities.
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| Figures for regional Tasmania from the ACCC’s Petrol Quarterly Report for the June Quarter 2019. Click image to enlarge. |
The average monthly prices in the similar-sized regional towns of Huonville and Smithton were lower than they were in New Norfolk in both periods.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission suggests motorists use fuel price websites and apps, such as MotorMouth and GasBuddy, to find retailers with relatively lower prices. It cites an example in Launceston last month where there was an 8c range between the highest and lowest-priced retail sites.
