Death watch for FuelWatch

The Shadow Minister for Competition Policy and Consumer Affairs Luke Hartsuyker said the Rudd Government should throw in the towel on its FuelWatch legislation following the report issued today by the Senate Economics Committee.

“The committee has confirmed what most observers have been saying for [a] long time, that motorists will pay more for petrol if this scheme is rolled out across Australia.

“The majority report from the Labor Senators consists of unsubstantiated economic arguments and highly selective extracts of evidence presented to the committee. It ignores the lack of hard evidence about the effects and useage of the scheme in Western Australia.

“It ignores the overwhelming weight of evidence from motoring organisations and independent analysts that it will push up prices by denying motorists the opportunity to buy on cheap Tuesdays.

“Labor has had its best shot at defending FuelWatch and it has missed by a mile.

“The Dissenting Report from Coalition Senators details the flaws in the evidence from Western Australia; lists the criticisms of the analysis by the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission used to justify the scheme; and records the well-documented fears of the motoring organisations and independent retailers,” Mr Hartsuyker said.

“Its conclusion, based on the evidence, is that the price for the so-called empowerment of the motorist by fixing prices for 24 hours will be that they will pay more at the bowser and there will be less competition as independent retailers are driven out of the market.

“FuelWatch was flawed from the beginning. The Senate Inquiry has exposed it for the farce that it is. The Rudd Government should admit that it has backed a loser and throw in the towel now.”

The conclusions from the Dissenting Report.

Related stories:
FuelWatch: the slow death of a bad idea.
Petrol Commisssioner needs more powers.
Petrol price rip-off continues.
ACCC needs more powers to curb rip-offs.
So much for frank and free advice.