‘Doesn't add up': RACQ slams unfair Brisbane petrol price hikes
Brisbane drivers are being urged to fill up the tank now as unleaded petrol prices hike by almost 60 per cent per litre at some service stations.
Fuel companies in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast are currently increasing unleaded prices from a low of 160 cents per litre to a high of 219.9 cents per litre.
RACQ head of public policy Dr Michael Kane said despite impacts from Israel-Iran conflict and the local price cycle, retail margins were far too high compared with other parts of the country.
'We're currently in the price-hike phase of the fuel cycle and while we usually see prices jump, an almost 60¢ hike is unjustified and unfair,' he said.
'We're seeing a lot of blame for these higher prices fall on international factors, like the conflict in the Middle East and volatile global oil prices, but these haven't led to a significant increase in wholesale fuel prices, so the massive spike at the bowser doesn't add up.'
Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers has written to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission calling for the watchdog to monitor for potential price gouging at the bowser by operators.
Petrol prices have been fluctuating following uncertainty in the Middle East with Iran and Israel trading air strikes and the US bombing Iranian nuclear facilities.
'We don't want to see service stations do the wrong thing by Australian motorists,' he told reporters in Brisbane on Tuesday.
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