PORT Macquarie has been named as one of 28 places where motorists are more likely to be “ripped off at the pump”.
The town was one of 111 locations across Australia surveyed in a study conducted by the University of New England Business School.
Professor Abbas Valadkhani from the school said the study clearly identified the phenomenon of pump prices rocketing up when the cost of crude increases, while the downward price pressure was much slower, descending like a feather.
“We looked at 111 locations across Australia covering the daily and weekly data for the period (2007-2012) and it appears that the vast majority of petrol stations are doing the right thing,” he said.
However around a quarter of the service stations reviewed were participating in this rocket/feather pricing. The only place where everyone was doing the right thing was in WA.
He says the study compared like with like.
“We looked at petrol stations facing similar transport costs to determine a list of 28 places where motorists were more likely to be ripped off at the pump,” he said.
The list also included Ararat, Benalla, Bendigo, Brisbane Metro, Broken Hill, Burnie, Campbell Town (TAS), Canberra Metro, Casino, Charters Towers, Coffs Harbour, Cooma, Dubbo, Emerald, Forster, Gladstone, Gold Coast, Goondiwindi, Hobart Metro, Longreach, Maryborough, Mt Isa, Newcastle, Port Lincoln, Roma, Tennant Creek and Yarrawonga.
The professor said – while they could not prove a connection – WA where stations were doing the right thing was the only state with a government-backed fuel watch body.
“Only an effective government-led fuel watch pricing agency will have any impact on the rapid increase and subsequent slow decrease in the price motorists pay at the bowser,” he said.
Professor Valadkhani said identifying exactly who was profiting from this sudden price rise and very slow price decline pattern would be the subject of more research by the UNE’s Business School.
