Issue Date:  -  Saturday, 17 May 1997

Retail petroleum industry praised for conduct during delivery strike

Fair Trading Minister Doug Shave today commended all sections of the retail petroleum industry for acting responsibly during last weekend's fuel delivery strike.

Mr Shave also praised motorists, saying that, despite an initial heavy run on petrol stations' supplies, the public had demonstrated restraint.

In order to protect consumers' interests last Friday, the Government made motor fuel a declared product under the Petroleum Products Pricing Act.

This laid the foundation for a price order to be made over the weekend, when supplies to retail outlets were restricted.

This would have prohibited fuel retailers from selling petrol at prices above certain threshholds.

"The fact that petrol prices did not have to be capped was due to responsible attitudes demonstrated by industry members and also the public," Mr Shave said.

"Oil companies, the Petroleum Retailers' Association , Motor Trades Association and fuel retailers showed restraint in dealing with a difficult situation, and I commmend them for that," he said.

"Their sensible attitudes minimised the cost and inconvenience to the public because of the industrial action."

The Minister said there had been no substantial evidence this week of petrol profiteering during the crisis and fuel supplies had since returned to normal.

As a result, issuing a price order was unnecessary.

Media contact:
Anabel Gomez
Tel: (08) 9366 0300