General News
29 September, 2022
Petrol app promise to help reduce rising cost of living
Victorians would get an app comparing real-time information on local petrol prices to help save on fuel under an elected Liberal Nationals government, the state Opposition announced this week. The election promise would see the party invest $1...
Victorians would get an app comparing real-time information on local petrol prices to help save on fuel under an elected Liberal Nationals government, the state Opposition announced this week.
The election promise would see the party invest $1 million over four years to create an app that compares fuel prices, modelled on the existing New South Wales FuelCheck app.
The Victorian version of the app would provide information on current petrol prices at retail outlets near motorists, which according to the Opposition could save Victorians up to $800 a year.
The Liberals and Nationals also announced to collate accurate pricing data, legislation would be introduced that makes fuel reporting mandatory.
The plan comes in response to the end of the petrol excise cut (a temporary cut to a government fuel tax) this week, which was introduced by the Federal Government in March to help ease the rising cost of living.
With the cut lifted, petrol prices are expected to increase by up to 25.3 cents per litre.
Member for Ripon Louise Staley said most states already have a fuel app, which creates competition and drives down prices, and is something sorely needed in Victoria.
“Something I get asked a lot is that petrol price apps already exist, why does the government have to do it?” she said.
“The big difference is, the government legislates the fuel companies to disclose their prices, whereas in the private apps it is voluntary. If a station doesn’t want to participate because it has high prices, they don’t.
“It also forces competition between fuel companies. Many people will go to the same petrol station because they’re used to it and it’s not so easy to drive around the four stations in Maryborough and work out which is cheapest.
“If you’ve got an app you can check on your phone in your house, you’ll go to the cheapest one. That’s how you save the money.”
Ms Staley said motorists, especially in regional areas, would save on fuel with the app.
“I know people are really hurting at the moment with cost of living,” she said.
“In NSW, research on how much their app saved motorists was about $800 a year and that would be the same here — for country people it would likely be more.
“At a state level you don’t have as many levers to help people with the cost of living as you do in federal government, but this is one. For most people $800 is nothing to sneeze at.”
