Fuel price relief at last
PLUNGING fuel prices are welcome news for long-suffering Cairns motorists who last month enjoyed the secondcheapest petrol in regional Queensland.
RACQ’s March fuel price report said the average price of regular unleaded was 132.5 cents per litre in Cairns, which was 5.1 cents cheaper than Brisbane.
Only the southeastern Bundaberg region had cheaper petrol last month, recording a 0.1¢ lower average price at 132.4¢/L.
The steep cost of fuel in Cairns was investigated by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission last year. The consumer watchdog’s report confirmed the significantly higher prices than capital city markets.
The ACCC report claimed that the average net profit for Cairns petrol stations in 2015-16 had been about 38 per cent higher than the Australiawide average, blaming the “lack of vigorous and effective retail price competition” and too few new petrol stations.
Fuel price app MotorMouth said its own data also confirmed Cairns as the secondcheapest Queensland region for fuel in March.
MotorMouth spokeswoman Claire Onraet said the ACCC investigation, combined with the opening of new and independent petrol stations, were “having the right impact” on petrol prices.
“MotorMouth believes that the best way to put downward pressure on prices is to encourage independents into the marketplace especially when you’re talking about regional centres,” she said.
While it’s still important for motorists to shop around for the best prices, the introduction of independent fuel retailers has had the biggest impact on prices at the pump, Ms Onraet said. The RACQ is pushing the State Government to force petrol stations to provide real-time price data, a move which is supported by the LNP.
RACQ spokeswoman Lucinda Ross said it was hard for motorists to find the best prices when only some fuel providers offered real-time price data.
“A more transparent system will enable drivers to make decisions about which retailers they should give their business to,” Ms Ross said. “It’ll force servos selling at a higher price to drop it to get customers.”
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areas further north. “A lot of them are shocked by petrol prices and they’re shocked about everything really. They’ve got to do their homework a bit better,” Mr Colquhoun said. Smart drivers call ahead to find the best places to buy petrol.