Bligh Government fakes fuel price hike “shock”

RISING fuel prices and allegations of price gouging are likely to go unpunished despite the Bligh Government’s tough line on profiteering, the State Opposition said today.
Opposition Leader John-Paul Langbroek said the Bligh Government’s “shock” over escalating fuel costs was disingenuous and said they only had themselves to blame.

“Fuel prices are more expensive because of Anna Bligh,” said Mr Langbroek.
“Service stations didn’t add an extra 9.2 cents a litre to the cost of fuel – Anna Bligh did.
“When the Bligh Government broke their election promise by scrapping the fuel subsidy and introducing a fuel tax on 1 July, she gave the green light for the price of petrol to go up.
“But yet again, we see the Bligh Government trying to deflect attention away from their own economic incompetence – which is really why we’re paying more for fuel – by blaming service station operators.
“They can threaten to report them to the competition authorities all they want but at the end of the day, the people of Queensland and the ACCC know the price of fuel has gone up because of the Bligh Government.”
Mr Langbroek said the Fair Trading Minister’s comments suggesting there had been no “significant” increase to the cost of fuel since the fuel tax was introduced was a slap in the face for motorists, who were paying up to 30 cents more per litre to fill up their car.
“Before the fuel subsidy was scrapped and the fuel tax introduced, motorists were paying an average $1.11 a litre for unleaded petrol,” said Mr Langbroek.
“This morning, the price of fuel was up to $1.28 a litre, which is actually the cheapest it’s been this week.
“That’s an extra 17 cents per litre, so to say that the price of petrol hasn’t increased significantly is absurd.”