NORTHERN Tablelands MP Adam Marshall has launched an extraordinary attack on the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) over local petrol prices, branding it an “anti-competition eunuch”.
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It comes after NRMA figures last week revealed Tamworth and Armidale motorists were being slugged among the highest prices in the state for unleaded fuel, up to 23c a litre higher than Sydney.
Mr Marshall last week demanded the ACCC investigate the “anti-competitive pricing” of the six Armidale retailers, but claims he was “brushed off” by the consumer watchdog.
“It is my very strong belief ... that the retailers in Armidale are unscrupulous and are engaging in grossly anti-competitive activity,” Mr Marshall said.
“There is absolutely no other logical and reasonable explanation for the obscenely high prices.”
He said the response he received back from ACCC chief operating officer Rayne de Gruchy this week was “laughable”.
“They hadn’t even bothered to seriously look into the valid concerns and allegations which were brought to their attention,” Mr Marshall said.
“The ACCC has all the competitive spirit of an oil baron. In fact, it is an anti-competition eunuch. Either it does not have the power or it is unwilling to exercise its powers to investigate what is a huge travesty on the people of Armidale and it has to stop.”
In the letter, Mr de Gruchy stated: “While different retail fuel prices between locations in the same region are not of themselves evidence of anti-competitive behaviour, where evidence is available to the ACCC indicating that a breach of the [competition laws] may have occurred we can take action”.
“I do not know how much more evidence the ACCC needs,” Mr Marshall said.
“ Over the past 40 weeks Armidale consistently has been the most expensive or second most expensive by a large margin across rural and regional NSW.
“Even a local service station manager in Armidale this week had cause to state in the media that he had raised the matter of high fuel prices a number of times with his petrol provider. He said: But they told me there had not been enough complaints from motorists in town, so the prices would remain.”
He slammed Mr de Gruchy’s claim that motorists could save money by filling up at a “price-competitive retailer in another regional location”.
“The ACCC clearly does not understand the distance and geographic challenges in rural areas,” Mr Marshall said.
An ACCC spokeswoman said the watchdog “did not comment on correspondence” but pointed out fuel prices were generally higher in regional Australia compared with the larger capital cities for a variety of reasons.
unscrupulous and are engaging in grossly anti-competitive activity,” Mr Marshall said.
“There is absolutely no other logical and reasonable explanation for the obscenely high prices.”
He said the response he received from ACCC chief operating officer Rayne de Gruchy this week was “laughable”.
“They hadn’t even bothered to seriously look into the valid concerns and allegations which were brought to their attention,” Mr Marshall said.
“The ACCC has all the competitive spirit of an oil baron. In fact, it is an anti-competition eunuch. Either it does not have the power or it is unwilling to exercise its powers to investigate what is a huge travesty on the people of Armidale and it has to stop.”
In the letter, Mr de Gruchy stated: “While different retail fuel prices between locations in the same region are not of themselves evidence of anti-competitive behaviour, where evidence is available to the ACCC indicating that a breach of the (competition laws) may have occurred we can take action”.
“I do not know how much more evidence the ACCC needs,” Mr Marshall said.
“Over the past 40 weeks Armidale consistently has been the most expensive or second most expensive by a large margin across rural and regional NSW.
“Even a local service station manager in Armidale this week had cause to state in the media that he had raised the matter of high fuel prices a number of times with his petrol provider.
“But they told me there had not been enough complaints from motorists in town, so the prices would remain,”he said.
He slammed Mr de Gruchy’s claim that motorists could save money by filling up at a “price-competitive retailer in another regional location”.
“The ACCC clearly does not understand the distance and geographic
challenges in rural areas,” Mr Marshall said.
An ACCC spokeswoman said the watchdog “did not comment on correspondence” but pointed out fuel prices were generally higher in regional Australia compared with the larger capital cities for a variety of reasons.