Australia: Government Trundles on With Struggling FuelWatch

But it looks dead in the water after the two senators said they would not support the Bill in its current form. Mr Bowen said the Government was willing to talk through any issues the senators had, to see if they could be accommodated.
'He [Senator Xenophon] wants to see more competition and we agree with him,'' Mr Bowen said.  ''The bottom line is that FuelWatch is designed and will deal with ... elements of the retail petrol sector in Australia and give consumers a lot more information about how to find the cheapest petrol in their area.''

Previously a supporter of FuelWatch, Senator Xenophon has changed his mind, saying yesterday he was concerned the scheme would disadvantage small, independent petrol stations. ''It's clear that there are real risks with FuelWatch in that it won't increase competition in the marketplace, that it will put increased pressure on independent operators,'' Senator Xenophon said.

''The petrol commissioner just doesn't have the legislative teeth to be able to investigate and cajole and hold fuel companies to account.'' Senator Fielding wants a guarantee the scheme will not push petrol prices up or squeeze out smaller operators. Critics say the West Australian scheme has resulted in average higher petrol prices.

Senator Xenophon said he was willing to be involved in talks to see if some common ground could be achieved and would meet Mr Bowen soon. ''The minister deserves credit for putting this on the agenda but it's a question of needing so fundamental a change to competition law in this country to ensure that the independent operators have a fighting change in the marketplace,'' he said.

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