PM has no plan to help local communities on fuel prices
16th June, 2008
The Prime Minister today admitted he had no plan to reduce fuel prices in rural and regional areas.The Leader of The Nationals, Warren Truss, asked Mr Rudd today in Parliament about what he planned to do for non-metropolitan users of petrol and diesel, given that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and four Government departments advised that FuelWatch was likely to drive up fuel prices outside the cities.
“The Prime Minister had no answer, other than to say that regional areas can opt out of FuelWatch and the Government plans to subsidise ‘green cars’,” Mr Truss said.
“We know regional areas can opt out of the failed FuelWatch scheme. All that means is people living in non-metropolitan areas won’t know how much FuelWatch is going to drive up prices, as it has already done in Western Australia.
“Even the Government now admits that FuelWatch is useless in the bush.
“If his solution for regional Australians is to opt out of his only answer to increased fuel prices in the cities, what hope is there? Labor has no plan to lower petrol prices in Gippsland or anywhere else in regional Australia and it could not care less.
“This is a pathetic response from Mr Rudd, who was elected on a promise to do something about petrol prices for all.
“The Coalition certainly has a plan – The Nationals and Liberals have committed to cut fuel excise by five cents per litre, which will have an immediate and very positive benefit for all petrol and diesel users,” Mr Truss said.
