Petrol pricing; the debate we really don’t need

According to reports being generated around the country a $25 per tonne price on carbon will result in a six cents per litre jump in the price of petrol.

If this forecast is correct perhaps the folk who make these predictions could also tell us which weeks of the year, or which days of the week, for that matter will such an increase matter the most.

It would probably also be prudent to take note how the price of petrol will fluctuate from capital city to capital city around the country because at present some pay more than others.

This demarcation can even extend to whichever suburb you may live in, or which of the multi-national supermarket chains controls your particular local petrol station.

Around the country school holidays are either currently happening or are about to.

That means some motorists should be filling up now as there is no chance the price of petrol will come down over that two week period.

Others will be driving home from the break trying to eke out the last drop of petrol while keeping a watchful eye on service station sandwich boards.

Any bowser in any city will be syphoning off an extra six to ten cents per litre come Thursday afternoon before holidays or long weekends regardless of any new tax being imposed.

Whether or not we do end up paying Julia an extra six cents or whether Tony gets into office to give those six cents back, presuming he would and that’s a big stretch for any government, will just be too hard to keep track of as petrol prices continue their roller coaster pricing mechanisms.

But, according to the Prime Minister, speaking on the ABC Insiders program, “Families, tradies, small business people do not have to worry about a petrol price increase.”

Somebody should tell her that people always worry about petrol prices – driving around with the orange ‘fill me now’ light flashing as they wait for prices to hit the bottom of the usual fortnightly cycle.

“The design of this scheme is that petrol pricing, petrol will be out now and out for the future,” Gillard assured everybody.

“I represent an outer urban electorate. I know what it’s like for people to have no choice but to jump in their cars to get places.

“So we are not going to have petrol included in the scheme, now or in the future.”

Gillard paid homage to Independent Tony Windsor, who she said had put forward a strong case on behalf of his rural constituents.

However, even he was not convinced of the government’s ability to guarantee the exemption of petrol from a carbon tax forever.

“No government can bind future governments,” Windsor told ABC Radio.

“A future government may want to do something differently; a future government may want to have nuclear energy as well.”

Leader of the Federal opposition Tony Abbot didn’t have to be persuaded to  throw fuel on the petrol argument saying that the Prime Minister’s claim that petrol isn’t to be included in any Carbon Tax packaging to be, “About as believable as her pre-election statement, ‘there will be no Carbon Tax under the government I lead’.

“The simple truth is that the best way to protect the families of Australia; the struggling families; the forgotten families of Australia from higher costs is not to have a Carbon Tax at all.

“If the Prime Minister is serious about protecting the forgotten families of Australia from cost of living increases she should just dump this bad tax.”

If we are going to focus on every minute detail of household budgeting as this debate continues perhaps we should really scare Abbott’s, “forgotten families” and find out how it may affect the country’s breweries.

If the Carbon Tax is going to have an effect on this industry people are certainly going to rage against any machine that will send the price of their weekly or daily tipple, depending on your predilection, to well over the $10 per litre that is currently paid.

It really is amazing how concerned all these politicians suddenly are about the price of petrol, when those of us who have to pay for it, be we urban or rural dwellers, have been trying to draw their attention to it for years.