OUR PUMP CO$T PAIN
GEELONG RANKS HIGH FOR PETROL BILLS
GEELONG households are spending more than $14,000 a year on transport costs, new data reveals.
The city’s motorists are paying more than people are in six other regional centres across Australia that are being monitored by the Australian Automobile Association.
The AAA has begun tracking cities such as Townsville, Launceston, Alice Springs, Wagga Wagga and Bunbury, but Geelong families are forking over the highest amount of $14,430 per year.
The figure comes on the eve of an inquiry by the State Parliament into fuel prices in regional Victoria, which will consider price discrepancies across the state.
The Economic, Education, Jobs and Skills Committee will also look at interstate initiatives to reduce fuel prices and increase pricing transparency, according to chairman Nazih Elasmar.
“Some states have intro- duced mandatory fuel price reporting to give consumers access to real-time petrol prices and try to increase competition,” he said.
“The committee will consider these schemes along with the types of online systems that Victorian motorists could use to compare fuel prices.”
While more than half of Victoria’s fuel is made at Viva Energy’s refinery in Geelong, local motorists pay among the most at the bowser in the state.
The AAA’s monthly tracking of fuel prices shows that the average cost in Geelong in June was higher than all but six of the 24 Victorian regional centres scrutinised.
The average unleaded price of 129.2 cents per litre was the second highest mark in Geelong since August 2015.
It was also higher than outlying towns such as Portland, Wodonga and Lakes Entrance.
The AAA’s transport affordability index found the average Australian household in a capital city was spending $17,294 annually on land transport. This accounts for 13.4 per cent of household income.
Geelong families were spending about 4 per cent more than the regional average of $13,863.
“The index demonstrates that transport is a significant and largely unavoidable cost to households,” the AAA said.
“These cost pressures must be considered by governments at all levels when formulating policy.”
The RACV has previously found the cost of running a new vehicle in 2017 had risen by an average of 1.6 per cent.