ACCC Investigates 70 Per Cent Fuel Surcharges on Remote Communities That Were Already Being Charged 70 Per Cent More Than Everyone Else

DARWIN – The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has served notices on businesses across South Australia, Western Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory after discovering fuel surcharges of more than 70 per cent being imposed on deliveries to remote communities.

The ACCC investigation follows the federal government’s decision to halve the fuel excise from 1 April in response to the Iran-driven fuel crisis. In some capital cities the savings were passed on within hours. In some remote communities the savings have not arrived at all.

“We are pleased to see that several retail sites have dropped fuel prices” the ACCC chair said. “However we are concerned that remote communities are once again absorbing costs that would not be tolerated in metropolitan areas.”

In the Northern Territory diesel prices have hit $4 a litre in some communities. The Remote Area Allowance which is supposed to help with exactly this kind of cost pressure has not increased since 2001. A kilogram of instant coffee in one WA desert town recently passed $100.

“We’ve had businesses come to us saying they can’t afford to operate anymore” a representative from a remote business support network said. “You can’t run a community store when the freight costs more than the product. But no one’s putting 70 per cent surcharges on deliveries to Mosman.”

A spokesperson for the Department of Regional Development said the government was “monitoring the situation closely” and that “a range of supports are available for affected communities including existing subsidy programs.”

When asked if those programs had been updated to reflect current fuel costs the spokesperson said they would “take that on notice.”

Energy Minister Chris Bowen said fuel supply was secure until May. He did not specify what “secure” means when the fuel you can access costs more than most households earn in a day.

The excise got halved. The surcharges got doubled. And remote mob are still doing the maths on a $4 litre of diesel.