FUEL PRICES GIVE COST OF LIVING A KICK

CONSUMERS were dealt a heavy blow on Friday with the price of fuel busting the $2 mark. The service station signs along Sheridan St on the way to work nearly caused an accident. I can’t help but engage in a bit of nostalgia, as I’m sure most readers are when they visit the bowser these days.

My first car, a second-hand Champagne-coloured Holden Astra guzzled about $50 worth in the early ’90s and would last about two weeks as I zipped here and there.

Prices fluctuated between 50c and 80c a litre for years and made a real difference to my weekly budget. Some things never change …

A few years back, a bucket-list trip to the Tip had me gulping at the Bramwell Junction Roadhouse on the return journey. Hubby and I had planned to fill up at Bamaga early that morning as we headed for home. It was the cheapest price we’d seen on the way north but, as luck would have it, a fuel truck turned into the servo in front of us, closing it while they restocked. A decision to carry on created a (slightly) nervous trek to Bramwell after discovering the next chance for fuel – the Jardine River servo – also closed. So the $1.73 a litre we paid at the Junction was almost palatable under the circumstances. Almost.

Diesel prices in the Far North were more than 50c cheaper at the time. Fast forward nearly six years and global forces and conflicts are putting the pedal to our throats and wallets.

While people have reportedly been saving cash throughout Covid, the price hike will still have an effect.

Those who bought or upgraded 4WDs and caravans to satisfy their travel itch will feel the pinch, as will a tourism industry that dependent on domestic visitors, while just about every business with transport costs will also cop the brunt.

Better hang on to some of those pennies – we’re going to need them.