Monday, Jan 26, 2009 at 09:02
Hi Mark
The TGP is set with reference to some very transparent price inputs. Any discrepancy or deviation from the 'norm' would be very visible and contestable.
Many talk about being 'shafted' by the
fuel companies. But ask yourself, who is doing the real 'shafting'? Refiners have invested significant amounts of capital (billions) so we can conveniently pull up at any service station and
fuel our vehicles. The industry is a significant employer and generates taxable income for the Australian Government. For that they earn around 1 cent per litre of
fuel refined. Less than 1% based on the current price.
In significant contrast, the Australian Government is paid just over 38 cents in excises and has a GST on retail
fuel purchases. Based on the excise alone this represents around 38% of the current price of
fuel. And remember, the excise is a ‘fixed’ amount so if, and when
fuel prices fall the actual percentage that it rakes from your wallet increases.
So who is the real villain here? .....mind you if the Government did drop taxes on
fuel they would need to raise the money somewhere else. As was noted by Footloose elsewhere in this thread, we’d all do better to make the government account for the way it spends the money it generates from the
fuel excise, rather than wasting time criticising
fuel companies for wanting a (meager) return on their investment.
I’ve said before the greater risk to
fuel retailing in Australia is supply, not price, if the refiners don’t generate a return sufficient to support the business then they will leave. You only need to look at Port Stanvac in South Australia as an example….
Take care, and enjoy the rest of the weekend.
The Landy
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