Proposal will hike fuel bills

MOTORISTS will be forced to pay up to $645 more a year for fuel and will no longer get access to regular unleaded if the Government pushes ahead with a controversial plan to reduce petrol emissions by 2020.

The Australian Automobile Association has warned drivers face huge increases at the petrol bowser as a result of a Government proposal to ban the sale of regular 91 octane unleaded in the Australian market by 2020.

The peak motoring group, representing clubs like the NRMA, RACQ, RAA and RACV and their eight million members, yesterday urged the Government to rule out the proposal in a pre-budget submission.

The measure is one of five key proposals the Government is actively considering and was outlined in a discussion paper released in December last year.

Modelling by the Bulletin based on yesterday’s fuel prices shows if drivers were forced to buy premium 95 octane unleaded instead of regular 91, annual fuel prices could rise by as much as $645 a year.

This is based on filling up a standard Holden Commodore driving an average of 15,000km a year. The difference between regular and premium unleaded was 17¢/l.

Gold Coast residents could face an annual petrol hike of $452 a year, with an 11.9¢ difference per litre or $8.69 per tank.

Last year 91 octane unleaded accounted for 69 per cent of all fuel sales nationally.

The move to ban regular unleaded is part of a plan to reduce the amount of sulphur in fuel – therefore noxious emissions – from 150 parts per million to the European standard of 10 parts per million.