silverguide.site –

Australians expecting relief from punishing fuel prices in time for Easter travel are set to be disappointed, with the industry predicting the effects of Labor temporarily halving the excise will take days or weeks to reach some bowsers around the country.

The halving of the fuel excise, which begins on Wednesday and lasts until the end of June, means the federal government will now collect 26.3c from every litre over the next three months instead of 52.6c a litre.

Peak industry bodies and households have welcomed the announcement as the cost of petrol and diesel soars to historical highs across the country.

But some more remote areas could be waiting longer for price reductions than others.

The fuel industry body, the Australasian Convenience and Petroleum Marketers Association, said the flow-on effect of the excise cut for Australians would depend on how quickly petrol stations sold their more expensive fuel.

The fuel excise is paid on the wholesale price, known as the terminal gate price, before it is transported to service stations around the country.

Rowan Lee, the association’s chief executive, said service stations would sell off any fuel bought with the full excise applied first before passing on cheaper supplies to drivers.

“For some very busy metropolitan sites, it could be a few days. In remote areas where they [have] low volume, it could be a week or two. As that fuel is replenished, the reduced excise will be applied to that fuel and passed through to motorists,” he said.

A report by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in 2022, when the fuel excise was last halved as Russia invaded Ukraine, showed the excise cut had been passed on to retail prices at the vast majority of service stations after six weeks.

The ACCC will be closely monitoring petrol stations to ensure the savings are passed on to consumers.

Industry welcomes fuel plan

Industry bodies are largely backing the announcement, along with a three-month pause to the heavy vehicle user road charge, as they warn of ripple effects on the country’s supply chain.

The Australian Logistics Council, a peak body for companies across the supply chain including Amazon, Woolworths and Linfox, said the fuel excise relief would help workers get to warehouses and reduce the costs suppliers passed on to end consumers.

But Hermione Parsons, the council’s chief executive officer, warned planning for future global shocks was crucial given Australia imported about 90% of its diesel supplies.

“This is a complex global supply chain phenomenon and we don’t control our own main fuel source,” she said.

“Freight rail is highly under-utilised in Australia, and we need to utilise it to its full capacity … Australia, of all countries in the world, could also develop a renewable diesel industry.”

Farmers across the east coast were more sceptical of the plan, with the NSW Farmers president, Xavier Martin, worried the fuel excise reduction would drive up demand in areas with supply shortages.

“Farmers can’t run tractors on a framework,” he said.

The National Farmers’ Federation president, Hamish McIntyre, said the announcement lacked detail.

“Halving the fuel excise will provide relief for consumers, but it does little directly for farmers and we hold concerns as to the impact this policy may have on overall fuel demand,” he said.

Emergency fuel rationing ‘still under consideration’

In NSW, the premier, Chris Minns, told reporters that emergency measures under the third and fourth stages of the government’s plans were “still under consideration”, and that they included recommendations from the International Energy Agency, such as fuel rationing and encouraging working from home.

The NSW treasurer, Daniel Mookhey, said that rationing would come under stage four.

Minns said the states were “considering” forgoing any windfall GST revenue, but negotiations between the states were not yet as far advanced as the agreement on the excise.

Minns said he expected the reduction in the excise to be passed on immediately to consumers on Wednesday.

The Minns government did not support a call to lower the excise by the NSW opposition made in a letter to the prime minister last week, but Guardian Australia has been told that Minns did not oppose the measure at national cabinet.

Asked on Monday if he was worried a cut could worsen shortages, the premier said consumers should “act responsibly” when prices dropped.

“I’m not taking anything away from it, [reducing the excise] is really going to help families,” he said. “Don’t buy more than you need to buy.”

The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, said fuel security legislation would be introduced this week, mirroring laws in Tasmania. The proposal would force fuel suppliers to provide data about supply and distribution of fuel, providing Victorians with more information and more transparency.

In Queensland, the premier, David Crisafulli, said he would not support any proposal to enforce “blanket mandates” on working from home during stage four of the fuel security plan.

“There is no world where I support work from home mandates; that sends entirely the wrong message,” he said.

With reporting by Benita Kolovos and Andrew Messenger