Brisbane motorists paying the most for petrol thanks to price gouging by service stat

csv8 · 07-12-2010, 01:11 AM

Brisbane motorists paying the most for petrol thanks to price gouging by service stations

by Robyn Ironside From: The Courier-Mail December 07, 2010 12:01AM 7 c

An RACQ comparison of petrol prices around Australia shows Brisbane motorists are paying the most as service station margins deliver much higher profits. Source: The Courier-Mail
SERVICE stations are gouging Brisbane motorists, with some almost doubling their profit margins on petrol sales in the past year, says the RACQ.

As the price of regular unleaded petrol hit $1.43 in Brisbane yesterday, the RACQ's monthly fuel price report revealed retailers were adding a margin of 8.2 a litre, compared with the average 4.3 a year ago.

The inflated retail margin has made Brisbane the most expensive state capital for fuel on the mainland a situation set to worsen with Commsec predicting a general 5 a litre petrol price rise by Christmas.

The lack of retail competition in the southeast is blamed for the soaring prices.

The RACQ report revealed not only are interstate drivers better off, but so too are motorists in major regional centres where independent retailers and competition in the sector were plentiful.

In November, Toowoomba had the state's cheapest petrol at 116.8 a litre and Mackay paid 120.9 compared with 126.9 in Brisbane.

Paul Turner from the RACQ said Brisbane drivers should not be consistently paying more for petrol than those in other capital cities.

``Petrol prices at the fuel pump were more than seven cents a litre cheaper in Brisbane in November last year than in the month just gone,'' Mr Turner said.

``The RACQ will be watching over Christmas to ensure there is no blatant profiteering.''

The monthly report also revealed that Friday was now the cheapest day to fill up, with the weekly pricing cycle now peaking on Saturdays.

Geoff Trotter from petrol price-monitoring body FUELtrac said a lack of competition in Brisbane was costing the city's motorists.

``The fundamental reason that Brisbane prices are higher is the domination and concentration of Coles and Woolworths outlets in the southeast corner,'' he said.

``Because of the very significant price-buying advantage that they have on fuel, no independent can win any price battle.''

Jim Goose · 07-12-2010, 06:50 AM

Petrol in Towsville went from $1.18 to $1.28 yesterday morning at some places

geckoGT · 07-12-2010, 07:33 AM

It seems to me that when we had the subsidy we were pretty much line ball with the rest of the states on fuel price. Now that we have lost the state government subsidy, the petrol companies have seen it as an excuse to jack up the prices thinking we won't notice.

Then to make it worse they have all decided to get together and co ordinate their prices and we no longer have the cheaper fuel prices on tuesday and wednesday. You used to be able to coordinate your fills to happen on either tuesday or wednesday when the fuel is cheap but now those days are often the most expensive. It seems the cheap days may occur any day between thursday to monday now.

Pretty tired of the government jacking up our rego and the fuel companies jacking up our fuel, like getting a double greasy pole.

Quote:

Petrol in Towsville went from $1.18 to $1.28 yesterday morning at some places

Brisbane was $1.32 at nearly all the ones I saw around my area. It seems to me QLD is that silly that they think fuel has to be more expensive in the capital city, every other state has the fuel more expensive in rural areas.

Glen 5150 · 07-12-2010, 07:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by geckoGT

Pretty tired of the government jacking up our rego and the fuel companies jacking up our fuel, like getting a double greasy pole.

Brisbane was $1.32 at nearly all the ones I saw around my area. It seems to me QLD is that silly that they think fuel has to be more expensive in the capital city, every other state has the fuel more expensive in rural areas.

Your spot on mate. I'm a Brisbane boy and yesterday paid $960 in rego and as i drove home i filled up with petrol at $1.43. They say bad things happen in 3's.

The electricity bill is due this week also? And they call this the lucky and smart state.

geckoGT · 07-12-2010, 08:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 5150gk

Your spot on mate. I'm a Brisbane boy and yesterday paid $960 in rego and as i drove home i filled up with petrol at $1.43. They say bad things happen in 3's.

The electricity bill is due this week also? And they call this the lucky and smart state.

Personally I think they got a big head when Brisbane was noted as the "most liveable" city a few years ago and have profiteered from this to point that it is at now, the most "profitable city".

Look at Perth, when I was there this year they had cheaper fuel, cheaper rego and not one toll road. In Brisbane we pay more for fuel, more for rego (under the guise of all our new road works) and every new road is a toll road (so we pay for it twice). Not happy at all.

If it was not for work and family factors I would go back to Perth in a heart beat.

Glen 5150 · 07-12-2010, 08:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by geckoGT

If it was not for work and family factors I would go back to Perth in a heart beat.

Thought about the same thing mate but when you actually sit down with the pro's and con's in front of you with the cost of relocation fees and huge losses in house commissions you'd be looking around 4-5 years to break even? With petrol, rego, water, electricity, rates blah blah blah Qld has really become the have's and the have nots State.
I agree though, if it wasnt for the great climate, i'd be gone a long time ago.

geckoGT · 07-12-2010, 09:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 5150gk

Thought about the same thing mate but when you actually sit down with the pro's and con's in front of you with the cost of relocation fees and huge losses in house commissions you'd be looking around 4-5 years to break even? With petrol, rego, water, electricity, rates blah blah blah Qld has really become the have's and the have nots State.
I agree though, if it wasnt for the great climate, i'd be gone a long time ago.

Honestly, I think the only sensible reasons I am still here is the fact that my daughter is 14 and in high school and I want to do my Intensive Care Paramedic.

WA ambos get paid more than us so the cost of relocation would be covered within the first year. As for the house commisions, not a factor as we have to get a bigger house soon anyway. Climate, at least WA has a true summer and winter (it rains in winter not these summer storms and then nice and steamy that you get here).

Perhaps it is just a case of your can take the boy out of WA but you can't take the WA out of the boy.

**Mechan1k** · 07-12-2010, 08:49 AM

I guess you have now come in-line with the rest of the country with fuel prices now ... QLDer's had it soooo good for many years and got used to it.

geckoGT · 07-12-2010, 08:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mechan1k

I guess you have now come in-line with the rest of the country with fuel prices now ... QLDer's had it soooo good for many years and got used to it.

That is the point, we are not "in line" with the rest of the country. That and it is a big change to occur in under 2 years. I did a lot of travel through NSW, ACT and Vic and even when we supposedly had the government fuel subsidy our fuel really was not that much cheaper, if any. The loss of the government fuel subsidy just meant that we now pay more.

And none of your statement gives any reasonable explanation why Brisbane pays more than regional areas. You never will find a reasonable explanation because it is pure profiteering.

irlewy86 · 07-12-2010, 05:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mechan1k

I guess you have now come in-line with the rest of the country with fuel prices now ... QLDer's had it soooo good for many years and got used to it.

I think I've said it before but...

When the subsidy was there the government could pressure the industry to keep the price 8c lower than Sydney/Melbourne. As they were the only benchmark to gauge the effectiveness of the subsidy. With it gone the retailers have floated above the East Coast Capital Price. What annoys me is despite having lower rental costs, lower transport costs, lower payroll tax, lower work cover, lower wage costs... they then have a higher margin than Sydney and Melbourne.

Its about time the State government did something to improve competition and they can start by using all those shiny QRN dollars and consider dropping taxes for independent and small business to encourage more competition.

**Mechan1k** · 07-12-2010, 09:00 AM

I remember when QLD had the subsidy ... and driving from Sydney to Brisbane ... there was a decent discrepancy.

Was paying $1.25/L for 91 ULP in Sydney ... and filled with 98 PULP near Brisbane city itself for 99.9c/L

That was a decent enough difference for me ... this was a few year ago as well (4-5 year ago).

Sydney prices did spike around that time ... and have kind of plateau'ed since ... with the odd spike here and there since.

geckoGT · 07-12-2010, 09:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mechan1k

I remember when QLD had the subsidy ... and driving from Sydney to Brisbane ... there was a decent discrepancy.

Was paying $1.25/L for 91 ULP in Sydney ... and filled with 98 PULP near Brisbane city itself for 99.9c/L

I do not know how you could have seen that, I have lived in Brisbane for 6 years and I have never seen fuel prices below $1.10. When I came over from WA the fuel prices here were about the same, maybe a couple of cents cheaper but then you had to pay more for rego and toll roads so there was no advantage.

kaniSS · 07-12-2010, 09:22 AM

Brisbane seems to be surpassing Sydney on price gouging.

It's coming up to Christmas, it happens every year. Just have to cope with it.

fmc351 · 07-12-2010, 11:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by geckoGT

I do not know how you could have seen that, I have lived in Brisbane for 6 years and I have never seen fuel prices below $1.10. When I came over from WA the fuel prices here were about the same, maybe a couple of cents cheaper but then you had to pay more for rego and toll roads so there was no advantage.

I remember buying it at under $0.40, while the rest of the country had it around $0.70. Always made me wonder how the $0.10 subsidy made that much difference.

geckoGT · 07-12-2010, 04:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fmc351

I remember buying it at under $0.40, while the rest of the country had it around $0.70. Always made me wonder how the $0.10 subsidy made that much difference.

Is that why I am paying so much now, because you had it so good back then and that must have been a hell of a long time ago because I remember when I started driving in 1990 fuel was about 70c in WA.

fmc351 · 07-12-2010, 05:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by geckoGT

Is that why I am paying so much now, because you had it so good back then and that must have been a hell of a long time ago because I remember when I started driving in 1990 fuel was about 70c in WA.

It was late 80's, and early 90's I suppose. I remember the servo round the corner from me at $0.36 while in Vic a few days later it was around $0.70. There would be some 'best day' discrepancy along with the subsidy, but I still cant work out how it was nearly $0.24 cheaper, considering that difference is 2/3 the price of a litre in Qld. The difference was 66% of the entire Qld cost. Oh, and that was rural Qld, not Brisbane, Brisbane was always a few cents cheaper again.

In before someone mentions they filled the old Buick for pennies or a shilling.

Smoke Pursuit · 07-12-2010, 11:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mechan1k

I remember when QLD had the subsidy ... and driving from Sydney to Brisbane ... there was a decent discrepancy.

Was paying $1.25/L for 91 ULP in Sydney ... and filled with 98 PULP near Brisbane city itself for 99.9c/L

That was a decent enough difference for me ... this was a few year ago as well (4-5 year ago).

Sydney prices did spike around that time ... and have kind of plateau'ed since ... with the odd spike here and there since.

Pulp here is now 140 +... Its a joke. Whats it down your way atm?

What I cant get over is how smaller country towns have cheaper Premium Unleaded then Brisbane, yet all the extra transport costs?

Its Coles and Woolworths that are causing it, not to mention the fact that they are monopolised the market through discounted petrol over the last few years pushing all the other smaller retailers out of the market.

In a perfect world I wouldnt buy my grocerries off Woolworths or Coles...

geckoGT · 07-12-2010, 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DASH GT

In a perfect world I wouldnt buy my grocerries off Woolworths or Coles...

We often don't, we go to foodworks etc, same prices if not less and a good range.

Ok so we don't get the 4c/L discount on fuel but apparently we pay 5c less going to Freedom anyway. So tired of the large supermarket and fuel chains giving us the greasy pole.

Now I just have to look at shopping our mortgage around and take it away from those thieves at ANZ. Suncorp just lost our insurance on our Mini because they are now $300 a year more than RACQ, next victim please.

04redxr8 · 07-12-2010, 04:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DASH GT

Pulp here is now 140 +... Its a joke. Whats it down your way atm?

What I cant get over is how smaller country towns have cheaper Premium Unleaded then Brisbane, yet all the extra transport costs?

Its Coles and Woolworths that are causing it, not to mention the fact that they are monopolised the market through discounted petrol over the last few years pushing all the other smaller retailers out of the market.

In a perfect world I wouldnt buy my grocerries off Woolworths or Coles...

Exactly. This price gouging and fluctuation only began when these started buying petrol stations. Thank Mr Howard for making this possibble.

Funny thing, I heard that after the ACCC investigated the petrol pricing and found that there was no wrong doing, one of the senior investigators retired. Funny how that happens.

XWGT · 07-12-2010, 09:54 AM

Wow

117 in regional Vic today

132 in Melb metro

Work that one out?

geckoGT · 07-12-2010, 11:21 AM

I just fueled the Mini, 98 was $1.44 at Freedom and it is $1.49 at Woolworths Caltex.

I will be fueling at Freedom from now on for both cars. I would much rather support the little guys, the fact that it saves me 5c a litre is an added bonus.

Personally I would like to see everyone teach Woolworths and Coles a lesson by taking their business elsewhere.

Smoke Pursuit · 07-12-2010, 11:23 AM

Yeh im over it..

We pay more for fuel, more for rego, and we have some of the worse roads in Australia.

I really love living in QLD... Not!

GTP owner · 07-12-2010, 04:23 PM

ummm i just checked those figures in the little box, and both Darwin and Hobart pay more for fuel.

So the title of the thread is misleading, and it seems like Qld fule users are starting to pay what the rest of us have had to for many years without the subsidy by the government. As uncle chops would say..."harden the f up"

geckoGT · 07-12-2010, 08:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTP owner

ummm i just checked those figures in the little box, and both Darwin and Hobart pay more for fuel.

So the title of the thread is misleading, and it seems like Qld fule users are starting to pay what the rest of us have had to for many years without the subsidy by the government. As uncle chops would say..."harden the f up"

Ok, while I am working on "hardening the F up", think about this.

There are more expenses to owning a car than just fuel.

In the NT rego for my typhoon would cost $663 a year, in QLD it costs me $837, a difference of $174. Plus I do 4 trips to work a week involving toll ways for the only major highway that connects (otherwise I would have to rat run it) which costs me $6.60 return, times that by 44 weeks (to account for leave) and you get $1,161. To my knowledge NT do not have any toll ways (nor do WA, SA or Tas).

Now working on my typhoon with my average driving which gives me an indicated fuel economy of 12.5L/100 km and approx 20,000 km per year. Filling up on the prices quoted for 91 in this thread, not that the typhoon would run on 91 but for comparisons sake we will pretend it does. That distance at NT fuel prices = $3238.75 in fuel for the year. At QLD price its = $3,172.50 for the year in fuel.

So lets total it up for the overall cost of fuel, rego and tolls.

NT
Fuel = $3238.75
Rego = $663
Tolls = Nil
Total = $3901.75

QLD
Fuel = $3172.50
Rego = $837
Tolls = $1161
Total = $5170.50

That means it is $1268 more expensive for my running costs in QLD than the NT would be. Even taking out the tolls, QLD is more expensive than the NT due to the rego outweighing the fuel saving QLD has.

Even if we still had our 8c/L subsidy from the government I would still pay $1068 more than the NT in running costs because of the tolls.

Looking at Sydney prices, Sydney would have to pay $58 a year more than us in rego to outweigh the extra we pay in fuel, I am pretty sure our rego is more than theirs, perhaps someone in Sydney with a Falcon can confirm this. I have not looked at Melbourne because I can't be bothered but they pay less again for fuel.

Just for fun, lets have a look at Perth.

Fuel = $3024.25
Rego = $577.62
Tolls = Nil
Total = $3601.87

That is $1568.63 less than QLD, could you think of something to do with that money, I can.

This is all without even looking at insurance which I guess would be more in QLD than NT but this is not really relevant as it is set by private companies and not influenced by state governments as much as fuel is.

Also, when you are telling us to harden up, just remember in the same year that we lost the fuel subsidy we also copped a large rego increase along with a large increase in tolls. Are we annoyed? You bet we are and I am sure many would agree that we have a right to.

GTP owner · 08-12-2010, 07:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by geckoGT

Ok, while I am working on "hardening the F up", think about this.

There are more expenses to owning a car than just fuel.

Looking at Sydney prices, Sydney would have to pay $58 a year more than us in rego to outweigh the extra we pay in fuel, I am pretty sure our rego is more than theirs, perhaps someone in Sydney with a Falcon can confirm this. I have not looked at Melbourne because I can't be bothered but they pay less again for fuel.

Also, when you are telling us to harden up, just remember in the same year that we lost the fuel subsidy we also copped a large rego increase along with a large increase in tolls. Are we annoyed? You bet we are and I am sure many would agree that we have a right to.

You have added a whole raft of expenses that were not relevant to the original post. So I will come back and agree that we do not have any tolls here in Tas, but I do 35,000km per year, the wife does 30,000km per year. We have no effective public transport here. NO trains, No buses on weekends past our place (and we are on a major highway to the south of Hobart), and only 1 taxi in our township of 7,000 people.
So the point of complaining about fuel costs comes across as whingeing.

geckoGT · 08-12-2010, 11:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTP owner

You have added a whole raft of expenses that were not relevant to the original post. So I will come back and agree that we do not have any tolls here in Tas, but I do 35,000km per year, the wife does 30,000km per year. We have no effective public transport here. NO trains, No buses on weekends past our place (and we are on a major highway to the south of Hobart), and only 1 taxi in our township of 7,000 people.
So the point of complaining about fuel costs comes across as whingeing.

You are missing the point, criticising us for complaining about fuel prices but also criticising us for bringing it into perspective and adding the other expenses that the state government have direct effect on. I disagree heavily, no those expenses were not stated in the original post but they are highly relevant.

You correctly stated that NT and Tas pay more for fuel and that was a valid point, you have now lost that validity in saying the other additional costs do not count. All costs do count, they certainly count when they come out of my pay.

I will do you a deal, I will gladly pay Tas fuel prices as long as I also pay their rego and no tolls.

As for the public transport, there is no train near my place either and to catch a bus would add 2 hrs to my travel time, which makes for a long day after 14 hrs at work + 4 hrs travel time. Think of it this way, 12 hr shift plus 2 hours overtime, + 4 hrs travel time to get home and then back for the next shift. As I only get 12 hrs between shifts I would then only have 6 hrs to sleep minus time to eat and get ready for bed/get up, I would probably hit the next shift with just 5 hrs sleep and then have to make life threatening/saving decisions. I would also have no way to get home after a 11pm finish as busses in my area do not travel that late. So although I live in a city of near on 2m people, I have it no better.

So maybe my point may come across as whingeing to you but I am sure you can see how your comments come across to me, thanks for the support.

GTP owner · 08-12-2010, 12:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by geckoGT

I will do you a deal, I will gladly pay Tas fuel prices as long as I also pay their rego and no tolls.

Done, as long as you do my job and study Medicine, and I will do your paramedic shifts

Also, if you wanted perspective - we have no tolls and rego is cheaper, but our average wages are the lowest in Australia. I choose to live here, and I love it. Yes we pay more for fuel than queenslanders do, but I choose not to complain. So I will stand by my original comment that the title was misleading.

**DJM83** · 07-12-2010, 08:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTP owner

ummm i just checked those figures in the little box, and both Darwin and Hobart pay more for fuel.

So the title of the thread is misleading, and it seems like Qld fule users are starting to pay what the rest of us have had to for many years without the subsidy by the government. As uncle chops would say..."harden the f up"

You are missing the point we are not 'inline' with the rest of OZ we have surpassed the average fuel price.

Even when we had the subsidy, it wasnt being passed on fully to the motorist anyway so the difference wasnt all that much then.

Now ill put it clear, im not worried about fuel prices, we have to use it so either way ill buy it and my Focus requires premium aswell and as you know it costs more.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DASH GT

We pay more for fuel, more for rego, and we have some of the worse roads in Australia.

Without going on another tangent as you would know Brent there is some pretty rough looking roads in NSW.

IMO Registration is the killer here in QLD. im glad i dont have my V8 anymore. As it is with my XR5 im paying 6 cyl rego. But thats another matter for another day.

**Mechan1k** · 08-12-2010, 06:35 AM

My toll bill for the year is about $2,500-$3,000 ... just depends on the amount of work i get and where it is. God know's where that money goes ... cos it's not into the roads really. The amount of buckled rims and replaced bushes in cars from our poor roads is atrocious. Parramatta Rd is worse than the goat track of a gravel/potholed driveway I used to have on my last property. And it's one of the major arterials in Sydney.

Rego inc. CTP in Sydney for me is around the $650 a year mark ... current rego only fees from RTA is $437 for a vehicle 1505-2504kg in weight. And if it is for business use .... add another $220 on top of that for the rego.

I wish I only needed to drive 20,000km a year ... my wife does about 30,000km in the Territory ... and I can do anywhere between 50,000-75,000km a year around metro ... it just depends ... lastely it has been lower though as I haven't been working my 2nd job as much.

geckoGT · 08-12-2010, 11:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mechan1k

My toll bill for the year is about $2,500-$3,000 ... just depends on the amount of work i get and where it is. God know's where that money goes ... cos it's not into the roads really. The amount of buckled rims and replaced bushes in cars from our poor roads is atrocious. Parramatta Rd is worse than the goat track of a gravel/potholed driveway I used to have on my last property. And it's one of the major arterials in Sydney.

Rego inc. CTP in Sydney for me is around the $650 a year mark ... current rego only fees from RTA is $437 for a vehicle 1505-2504kg in weight. And if it is for business use .... add another $220 on top of that for the rego.

I wish I only needed to drive 20,000km a year ... my wife does about 30,000km in the Territory ... and I can do anywhere between 50,000-75,000km a year around metro ... it just depends ... lastely it has been lower though as I haven't been working my 2nd job as much.

Ok, thanks for that.

It seems that your rego is more than ours, but this is offset by a bit (not enough I admit) by the fact your fuel is cheaper. How this balances out in comparison to other factors such as average income and additional costs of living I am not sure, it would be good to have a look but I do not have the time at the moment.