Kevin Hogan (Page, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As most people would be aware, oil prices have fallen drastically over the last six months or so. We have seen the price of crude oil fall to below $50 a barrel, which obviously has meant across the country that petrol prices have fallen. I think petrol prices peaked in my community at around $1.50 a litre and they have fallen to around $1.20 today, which is saving the average motorist around $20 a week. This is obviously great news; however, I was concerned, as were many people in rural communities, that the price of petrol in regional communities was falling much slower than it was in the city.

I wrote to the Chairman of the ACCC on 8 January airing this issue. I asked if he could look into it and act if there was collusion happening. He wrote back in early February to confirm that they are monitoring petrol prices on the North Coast. I do have good news. The differential between city prices and regional communities has narrowed and in some cases now they are on par. I want to alert you, Mr Deputy Speaker, and my community that I will be keeping a close watch on this to make sure that regional communities are paying very similar prices for petrol to their city cousins.