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Monday, 13 February 2012
Page: 838

Mr CRAIG KELLY (Hughes) (13:51): I rise to speak for the motorists of the electorate of Hughes, who last week were slugged overnight when LPG prices jumped 12c, or almost 20 per cent. Yesterday, we had an analysis released by the Australian Automobile Association showing motorists had been short changed by the so-called shopper docket discounts offered by the supermarket duopoly and that these discounts are nothing more than a big con. The analysis showed that motorists are paying more for petrol because of the duopoly, which has jacked up pump prices to cover a phoney fuel discount voucher. It also found that motorists are paying a higher price for fuel in the fuel cycle today compared with the fuel cycle of the 8c-a-litre discount before Christmas.

The newly appointed chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said:

Retailers who overstate or misrepresent the value of savings offered to consumers during special sales or promotions risk financial penalties or court action by the ACCC.

The ACCC has set the dogs on many small businesses which have unintentionally misrepresented discounts. Where is the ACCC's $330,000-a-year petrol commissioner, who, since his appointment, has been an apologist for the supermarket duopoly? It is about time the ACCC woke up—these so-called fuel discounts are a con. There is no free lunch. They are simply a misleading anticompetitive tool designed by the supermarket duopoly to destroy competition and jack up prices. (Time expired)