IT’S CHRISTMAS, SO FUEL PRICES ARE SKY HIGH GIFT OF GOUGING
A CAMPAIGN to raise the smoking age from 18 to 21 is gaining traction in Queensland with polling showing 81 per cent of people support the change.
The Eliminating Cancer Initiative, spearheaded by philanthropists Andrew and Nicola Forrest, was launched earlier this year in a bid to reduce the soaring rate of tobacco- related deaths in Australia.
Championed by NRL star Johnathan Thurston, the campaign was first launched in Queensland where Galaxy polling has revealed support has risen from 75 per cent to 81 per cent in the past month.
“We know from research that 95 per cent of smokers start before they are 21 but research also tells us that if we can stop young people from taking up the habit by that age, they are unlikely to ever smoke,” Mr Forrest said.
People aged 25- 34 were most supportive of the change. CLIVE Palmer is expected to launch another attempt to stall an application to freeze more than $ 200 million of his assets.
The liquidators of his collapsed company Queensland Nickel applied to freeze the assets in August as part of a wider lawsuit alleging he was a shadow director, traded while insolvent and breached his duties as a director.
The application to freeze Mr Palmer’s assets ended in late October and a Supreme Court judge was considering his decision.
According to court documents, the case will be brought on again tomorrow to argue new evidence should be put before the judge, including Mr Palmer’s court win in WA last month in which he was awarded almost $ 200 million in mining royalties. It is claimed fresh evidence would give insight into Mr Palmer’s pledge to reopen the Yabulu refinery. TOWNSVILLE’S fuel prices are nearly 5c a litre too high.
That’s what Queensland’s leading motoring body, the RACQ, believes.
It comes as a Townsville MP is calling on locals to bombard the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission with complaints over the city’s high fuel prices.
“It’s unacceptable that motorists in Townsville have to continue to endure high petrol prices,” federal Herbert MP Cathy O’Toole said. “I have been trying to put pressure on the ACCC to answer my questions on fuel since January.”
RACQ spokeswoman Lucinda Ross said while fuel prices were high in Townsville, the organisation did not expect any further rise in the short term heading into Christmas.
“Prices have steadily increased by a few cents per litre in recent weeks following an increase in the global oil price, but unfortunately some service stations have taken the increase too far and are now charging unfair prices,” she said.
“The current unleaded petrol average in Townsville is 141.5 cents per litre. We think that’s about 4.6cpl too high.
“It’s disappointing many servos are charging these higher prices in the lead up to Christmas when many people are driving around visiting family and friends.”
Ms Ross said motorists needed to do their research and shop around for the best deal and only give their business to those retailers doing the right thing.
“Despite a higher average, there’s some cheaper fuel available in Townsville,” she said. “You can fill up with ULP for 134.9c per litre at one servo in town ( Mobil at University Rd, Wulguru) and, as this is a fair price, we’d urge all drivers to support this retailer.”
Ms O’Toole said it was hard for struggling families to cope with the high petrol prices.
“I have written several letters to the ACCC about this, and their previous response to me regarding Townsville’s fuel market is that our prices reflect transport and competition cost, which is simply untrue,” she said. “The reality is, the fuel comes into the Port of Townsville so transportation cost should not be an issue.
“The fuel is coming into our port and it is transported to Cairns and Burdekin.
“But Cairns and the Burdekin have cheaper petrol than we do. So it is nonsense for the ACCC to say that it is about competition and transport.”
An ACCC spokesman said the consumer commission did not regulate the price of petrol.
“However, the ACCC is aware of the level of community concern about high petrol prices in Townsville,” he said.
“Generally … fuel prices are higher in regional locations due to a lower level of competition, lower volumes of fuel sold, distance and location factors, and less demand for convenience sales that can enable retailers to add to overall profits and keep fuel prices lower.”
The spokesman said the ACCC had completed four regional petrol market studies on Darwin, Launceston, Armidale, Cairns, and one on Brisbane.
“The results of the Cairns report are also applicable to Townsville,” he said.