Battle of the bowser bulge

Judith Collins is not known to be a shrinking violet. Even when she’s off the mark. She can generate a fair bit of the stuff she oversees as energy minister by the simple arching of an eyebrow. That eyebrow of anger has been twitching and on the rise lately, following the trajectory of fuel prices around the country and the heat being generated in the debate about petrol companies’ profit margins.

It could be a scrap for the ages, too, with neither side particularly popular with motorists, given the Government is just as responsible for the price we pay at the pump as the oil barons in Crusher Collins’ sights.

In fact, this could represent a rare win for the hapless commuter, seeing the chief protagonists of their pain entering into a fight neither can win.

As with all good contests both parties can claim to have at least a little bit of moral momentum: Collins will have her supporters, particularly in Wellington and the South Island, where the lack of competition from low-cost players such as Gull means the blows landed over high profit margins are more keenly felt; the fuel companies, on the other hand, can rightly point to Collins and her colleagues for the impact they have on prices through levies and taxes.

Some would suggest that the Government actually does better out of fuel than the people supplying it. Figures show that the state takes about 67 cents from every litre.

GST adds another 30 cents to that. So roughly half the money paid at the pump is piped straight into the state’s coffers.

Compare that with some of the claims being made about high profit margins. Z Energy is the country’s largest fuel retailer.

It says that its net profit is 4 cents to 6c per litre across its network. If petrol is cheaper in some areas than others, as those in Wellington and further south well know, that margin must move around a little.

Motoring advocate the Automobile Association claims the figure can be as high as 40 cents in some areas, but even that pales in comparison with what the government makes.

The benefit to the state, and by extension its people, doesn’t end there.

The New Zealand Superannuation Fund has been boosted substantially by those fuel profit margins over the past seven years.

The fund was one of the biggest shareholders in Z Energy when it paid $209.8 million for 20 per cent of the company in 2010.

Over the past seven years that initial investment has put just under $1.1 billion into the Super Fund. (The fund’s current stake in Z Energy is 1.5 per cent.)

Of course, none of this will ease your pain as you watch the numbers whirl onwards and upwards at the petrol station, and no-one comes out of this particular battle unscathed.

Only Collins would have the temerity to take on such an attack when the ground beneath her feet is so oily.

But in this arena we reserve the arched eyebrow of inquiry and incredulity for the minister.

We think the lady doth protest too much.