Ms MARTIN - 2001-02-28
At Shell fuel outlets yesterday, Darwin’s retail margin was 13.3 per litre. This compares with a national average of 5.38 per litre. In Perth the retail margin was just 2.7 per litre.
Why are Territorians paying almost 10 per litre more in fuel retail margins than the rest of Australia? In the interests of thousands of Territory consumers, I ask what pressure are you exerting on retailers to bring their margins more into line with national standards?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, it is interesting that the Leader of the Opposition continually asks me what pressure I am exerting. It is interesting that in the national media, and I refer to the Financial Review of only a few days ago, the name of the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory was mentioned as pressuring the Prime Minister of Australia to take action on fuel prices. There was also a reference to fuel prices in the Senate Estimates Committee. I have done everything I can to impress upon those who are in control of these things to look at alleviating the impost on the consumer with regards to petrol prices.
I have said on many occasions that the hypocrisy of the Labor Party, both federally and in the Northern Territory, is something that Territorians should continually be reminded of. When one criticises the current federal government for not taking action on excise on petrol prices ...
Members interjecting
Mr BURKE: The impost on the consumer is the end result at the pump. That is your point. And the end result at the pump contains a heavy margin of federal excise.
Territorians should not be forgetful of this simple fact. Over 10 or 11 years of Labor government, they introduced excise on petrol, and they raised the excise on petrol by over 300% during the term of their government. And they tied that excise to the CPI. When you stand there and adopt the high moral ground and say, ‘What should this federal government or what should you as Chief Minister do about petrol prices’, look to your own backyard, look to your own track record, and be honest with Australians and Territorians that the real impost on Australians was put in place by the Hawke/Keating government. One thing you can say ...
Mr STIRLING: A point of order, Mr Speaker! The question dealt with retail margins. If the Chief Minister can’t answer it or won’t answer it, please inform the House ...
Mr SPEAKER: There is no point of order.
Mr BURKE: As I have said, despite the criticisms that can be levelled today at the excise on fuel, let us not forget that the Howard government did not put any additional excise on petrol. It is the Howard government that stopped the Labor rort of increasing excise. It is the Howard government that has returned the best part of 23 per litre to commercial diesel on-road and off-road users. Let’s not forget that. When you start getting this mob on the moral high-ground, let’s just get the facts on the table.
The Northern Territory has a special situation, and Territorians pay the price of high fuel costs. No one denies that. Shell has a website where Territorians can check petrol prices across similar sized jurisdictions. The price of fuel is alarmingly high in country centres Australia-wide for a whole range of reasons, but in particular because of the high cost of crude oil that is governed by international decisions. Our prices are comparable to regional centres in Australia the size of Darwin or Alice Springs or Tennant Creek. This can be confirmed if people search the net for similar sized jurisdictions in Australia. The cost of fuel is unacceptably high to the consumer, but it is comparative to other jurisdictions.
Where I believe some of the pricing is absolutely scandalous is in places like Melbourne and Sydney, where one does not have to get much past 60km from the CBD. In capital cities where they have oil refineries in place and high competition, it is absolutely scandalous to have comparable prices to Territorians. In the Northern Territory, we do have extremely high prices and in some of the remotest parts of the Northern Territory they are incredibly high. One might say they are unacceptably high. But we must realise that those communities require only small volumes and there is a high cost to transporting fuel out to those particular areas.
In the Northern Territory, with a population of 200 000 people, there is a plethora of outlets. Territorians are well served by the number of outlets in the Northern Territory.
Mr Stirling: That should make it cheaper.
Mr BURKE: Unless we want to move to a socialist-directed economy, to overregulate a competitive market is not a policy that this government would adopt. The Labor Party would not do it, either. That is the truth of it. They would do what they have done in the past; they would just find more ways to tax fuel. That is what they have done in the past; they have the track record.
The member for Nhulunbuy says: ‘That should make it cheaper’. In any other environment with a large population you would say those market forces would apply. What we do not have in the Northern Territory is the competition that exists in places like Sydney and Melbourne. We have a large number of outlets and we have a very small population. I believe that a small business person deserves to make a quid. The Labor Party might, as I said, believe in a socialist-directed economy, but I believe a person in business is entitled to make a quid.
The government, in looking at the pricings throughout the Northern Territory, in a general sense believes that the small profit margin in the distribution outlets is not unacceptable because of the costs the businesses are faced with everyday. Many of those costs are incurred, indirectly, through decisions of a previous Labor government, and that is the reality we face in the Northern Territory. The truth for all Australians is that whilst the cost of crude oil remains high internationally, all Australians will suffer high prices.
Why are Territorians paying almost 10 per litre more in fuel retail margins than the rest of Australia? In the interests of thousands of Territory consumers, I ask what pressure are you exerting on retailers to bring their margins more into line with national standards?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, it is interesting that the Leader of the Opposition continually asks me what pressure I am exerting. It is interesting that in the national media, and I refer to the Financial Review of only a few days ago, the name of the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory was mentioned as pressuring the Prime Minister of Australia to take action on fuel prices. There was also a reference to fuel prices in the Senate Estimates Committee. I have done everything I can to impress upon those who are in control of these things to look at alleviating the impost on the consumer with regards to petrol prices.
I have said on many occasions that the hypocrisy of the Labor Party, both federally and in the Northern Territory, is something that Territorians should continually be reminded of. When one criticises the current federal government for not taking action on excise on petrol prices ...
Members interjecting
Mr BURKE: The impost on the consumer is the end result at the pump. That is your point. And the end result at the pump contains a heavy margin of federal excise.
Territorians should not be forgetful of this simple fact. Over 10 or 11 years of Labor government, they introduced excise on petrol, and they raised the excise on petrol by over 300% during the term of their government. And they tied that excise to the CPI. When you stand there and adopt the high moral ground and say, ‘What should this federal government or what should you as Chief Minister do about petrol prices’, look to your own backyard, look to your own track record, and be honest with Australians and Territorians that the real impost on Australians was put in place by the Hawke/Keating government. One thing you can say ...
Mr STIRLING: A point of order, Mr Speaker! The question dealt with retail margins. If the Chief Minister can’t answer it or won’t answer it, please inform the House ...
Mr SPEAKER: There is no point of order.
Mr BURKE: As I have said, despite the criticisms that can be levelled today at the excise on fuel, let us not forget that the Howard government did not put any additional excise on petrol. It is the Howard government that stopped the Labor rort of increasing excise. It is the Howard government that has returned the best part of 23 per litre to commercial diesel on-road and off-road users. Let’s not forget that. When you start getting this mob on the moral high-ground, let’s just get the facts on the table.
The Northern Territory has a special situation, and Territorians pay the price of high fuel costs. No one denies that. Shell has a website where Territorians can check petrol prices across similar sized jurisdictions. The price of fuel is alarmingly high in country centres Australia-wide for a whole range of reasons, but in particular because of the high cost of crude oil that is governed by international decisions. Our prices are comparable to regional centres in Australia the size of Darwin or Alice Springs or Tennant Creek. This can be confirmed if people search the net for similar sized jurisdictions in Australia. The cost of fuel is unacceptably high to the consumer, but it is comparative to other jurisdictions.
Where I believe some of the pricing is absolutely scandalous is in places like Melbourne and Sydney, where one does not have to get much past 60km from the CBD. In capital cities where they have oil refineries in place and high competition, it is absolutely scandalous to have comparable prices to Territorians. In the Northern Territory, we do have extremely high prices and in some of the remotest parts of the Northern Territory they are incredibly high. One might say they are unacceptably high. But we must realise that those communities require only small volumes and there is a high cost to transporting fuel out to those particular areas.
In the Northern Territory, with a population of 200 000 people, there is a plethora of outlets. Territorians are well served by the number of outlets in the Northern Territory.
Mr Stirling: That should make it cheaper.
Mr BURKE: Unless we want to move to a socialist-directed economy, to overregulate a competitive market is not a policy that this government would adopt. The Labor Party would not do it, either. That is the truth of it. They would do what they have done in the past; they would just find more ways to tax fuel. That is what they have done in the past; they have the track record.
The member for Nhulunbuy says: ‘That should make it cheaper’. In any other environment with a large population you would say those market forces would apply. What we do not have in the Northern Territory is the competition that exists in places like Sydney and Melbourne. We have a large number of outlets and we have a very small population. I believe that a small business person deserves to make a quid. The Labor Party might, as I said, believe in a socialist-directed economy, but I believe a person in business is entitled to make a quid.
The government, in looking at the pricings throughout the Northern Territory, in a general sense believes that the small profit margin in the distribution outlets is not unacceptable because of the costs the businesses are faced with everyday. Many of those costs are incurred, indirectly, through decisions of a previous Labor government, and that is the reality we face in the Northern Territory. The truth for all Australians is that whilst the cost of crude oil remains high internationally, all Australians will suffer high prices.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016