VACC, the peak automotive industry body in Victoria, is calling on the recently proposed new Petrol Commissioner to abandon the planned national Fuelwatch scheme.
The Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Competition Policy and Consumer Affairs, Mr Chris Bowen, will recommend Mr Joe Dimasi takes up the position, subject to the approval of the Governor-General, plus State and Territory Governments.
Mr Dimasi, an economist at the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), will replace Mr Pat Walker, who resigned in July for personal reasons.
“Mr Dimasi is a very capable individual and VACC looks forward to working with him in the future. However, we recommend that, if he does take the job, he wastes no time in dropping the flawed Fuelwatch proposal and instead tackles the issue of the lack of transparency at the Terminal Gate,” VACC Executive Director, David Purchase said.
“The national Fuelwatch scheme, due to be introduced at the end of the year, will not do what it is intended to do. It simply further discriminates against independent service station operators who do not have the same wholesale pricing information as oil companies and their supermarket partner retail sites.
“What will effect a price change is transparency at the wholesale level.
“For the Aussie motorist to get a fair deal at the bowser: there has to be competition in the market. Access to a fair and equitable TGP for independent service station operators is essential. They are currently disadvantaged when buying wholesale supplies.
“VACC believes there is a place for a Petrol Commissioner. We encourage the incumbent to rake over oil industry practices in controlling the wholesale market.
“VACC is ready to work with Mr Dimasi in any way it can. VACC has repeatedly campaigned against the oil major’s vice-like grip on the supply chain and recommends their so-called ‘comfortable oligopoly*’ is smashed.
“Discussing Fuelwatch is a needless distraction. VACC urges all interested parties to let it drop off the agenda. That way, it will clear the path for a sensible debate on petrol prices,” Mr Purchase said.
*ACCC Petrol Inquiry 2007