Fuel Pricing

Ms SAVVAS (Newland) (14:38): My question is to the Minister for Consumer and Business Affairs. How is the state government protecting consumers with the federal government's temporary fuel excise reductions concluding this Thursday?

The Hon. A. MICHAELS (Enfield—Minister for Small and Family Business, Minister for Consumer and Business Affairs, Minister for Arts) (14:38): I want to thank the member for Newland for her question and for taking an interest in how the Malinauskas government is protecting South Australian consumers and putting as much downward pressure on the cost of living as we possibly can right now.

As members are aware, the federal government's temporary cut to the fuel excise will end this Thursday and, as the federal Treasurer advised, the end of the 22¢ per litre cut to the fuel excise should not trigger an immediate spike in petrol prices. That's also been reiterated by the ACCC, who stated recently that they expect there to be no uncharacteristic or abnormal retail pricing increases in the days leading up to, on the day of or after the full rate of fuel excise.

Petrol prices at the pump are influenced by a range of factors, predominantly the international oil price and the Australian exchange rate. To help protect consumers, the Malinauskas government announced in the state budget the Fuel Pricing Information Scheme would be made permanent. The Fuel Pricing Information Scheme aims to improve the scope and integrity of available fuel price information and empower motorists to make informed decisions about their fuel purchases.

The scheme requires all fuel retailers to report their price changes to a central database within 30 minutes of any change in their fuel price. Fuel prices are then published to six registered mobile apps and websites, which constituents can access free of charge, including, amongst those, the RAA, FuelPrice Australia, MotorMouth, Pumped, Petrol Spy and Should I Fuel?

The scheme has proved very popular and is already showing promising signs of relieving cost-of-living pressures for South Australians by informing people's choices of when and where to fill up their cars with petrol. An RAA survey nine months after the introduction of the scheme of 600 RAA app users found there had been over two million fuel price searches at that time. They found 84 per cent of RAA app users had reported saving money, with average savings of about $340 per year.

Since coming into office, compliance and enforcement of the scheme has been a priority for CBS. CBS has conducted more than 1,000 inspections. It has resulted in 230 warnings to operators, and nine expiation notices have been issued. The Malinauskas government recognises the importance of this scheme and how valuable fuel price information is to motorists, particularly in light of recent increases to fuel prices around the world.

With the reintroduction of the fuel excise on Thursday, CBS will be out in force this week to ensure petrol stations are complying with South Australia's real-time petrol pricing scheme. It is a matter of priority, and CBS officers will be ensuring motorists have access to accurate, up-to-date information about petrol prices near them. Over the coming days, staff from CBS are expected to conduct dozens of checks at service stations across metropolitan and regional South Australia to ensure that petrol stations are meeting their obligations.

It's no coincidence that this latest blitz coincides with the end of the 22¢ petrol excise cut on Thursday. We want to make sure the South Australians are not going to be taken advantage of by fuel retailers who may wish to take advantage of the end of the cut to the fuel excise. I strongly recommend that every South Australian downloads one of these apps and ensures that they are able to find the cheapest fuel options available to them. Importantly, I encourage motorists to report any potential breaches to CBS for any noncompliance with retail fuel pricing requirements.