Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / NT Consumer Affairs Deputy Commissioner Sandy Otto provides some advice for Territorians with the fuel excise cut ending tonight

Transcript

NT Consumer Affairs Deputy Commissioner Sandy Otto provides some advice for Territorians with the fuel excise cut ending tonight · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Well, as we know, the fuel excise is set to
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: end at midnight tonight. Now, the measure was temporarily introduced
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: under the last federal government in an effort to provide
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: that relief amid rising costs of living. The Labor government
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: isn't going to be extending the reduction to the fuel tax,
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: citing its budget pressures and road maintenance as the reasons why.
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: Now joining me on the line to tell us a
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: little bit more about what we can expect. I guess
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: here in the Northern Territory is the NT Consumer Affairs
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: Commissioner Sandi Otto. Good morning to you.
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: Good morning, Katie, Thanks so.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: Much for your time this morning. Now, Sandy, how much
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: extra do you think that we're going to see this
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: fuel excise sort of go up? I suppose as a
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: result of an ending tonight.
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah, the price is going to go up roughly around
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: twenty five cents a leter. That takes in consideration that
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: twenty three percent of sense per leter increase, and there
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: was also an automatic increase go through that and the GST,
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: So roughly you're at twenty five cents a later, and
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: I'm not expecting that to happen immediately. And I'm hoping
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: it doesn't, but it should go through once the fuel
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: stocks go down and the retailers get their tanks filled
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: back up.
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: And Sandy, why do you think it's not going to
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: sort of happen immediately.
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: Well, people, I'm hoping the few retailers have got reasonably
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: full tanks of fuel in the ground and they need
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: to work through those stocks first before they put the
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: prices up. So once they fill their tanks back up,
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: that's when the prices should be going up. So it
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: sort of depends on the volume as well. There's some
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: fuel stations that might be busier than others, so their
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: price might rise before before you know, a competition down
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: the road. So what I'd suggest that people do is
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: have a look at the my fuel and t app
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: find where the cheapest fuel is and go there and
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: fill up and just keep an eye on it because
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: it's going to fluctuate I think in the next few days.
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: Yeah, And Sandy, look, I get messages I reckon just
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: about every day from people saying, come on, Katie, we
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: didn't even really see the prices go down as a
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: result of that fuel excise. I've no doubt that the
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: prices have been something that you've been keeping an eye on.
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: I have certainly have, and I think one of the
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: you know, there's been a lot of contributing factors around
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: the when the price excise went down, so that didn't
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: help the conflict in the Ukraine, for example, that's had
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: a significant impact. We've got to look at the exchange rate,
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: you know, the Australian dollar, All that sort of thing
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: does come into play, and production costs, import costs, there's
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: a whole range of things that dictate the price of fuel,
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: and again consumers just need to keep an eye on
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: what's happening. Have a look at the terminal gate price.
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: If you see that start to go up, you know
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: that the fuel prices will go up. So consumers need
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: to be very very active in keeping an eye on
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: this sort of thing and just making sure they keep
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: that the fuel tanks topped up before it does jump
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: up that twenty five cents.
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: Well, we try our best to keep people up to
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: date as well with how the terminal gate price is
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: tracking and then how it's looking on the my fuel
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: lap Sandy will Y consumer iffees, I'm assuming you'll continue
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: to keep a close eye on things, but you know
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: what can sort of be done if we suspect that
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: the price is you know that we are being gouged,
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: I guess for one of a better word.
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: It's really important that if a consumer thinks they are
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: being price gouged, or they think they're being misled, or
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: they think there's clues or there's something happening with the
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: prices that's not right, but they need to contact the HCEE.
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: I've put up in our news and events section at
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: the bottom of our web page, there's a new one
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: that's gone up and in that little comment there there
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: is a link to the age we'll see where they
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: need to report that. That's the people they need to
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: be reporting it to, and they they are keeping a
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: very close eye on the daal and market, so if
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: there's anything unusual that's going on, they certainly will be advised.
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: Sandy, what do you think when you sort of go
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: on the my fuel lap and basically everyone's at the
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: same price.
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I had a look this morning and just around
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: a casher in an area here with the variance between
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: dollars sixty three and a dollar seventy roughly, So it's
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: and you've got loyalty cards are around that offer fourth
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: cent salt or six cent sorce. Have a look at
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: the app, have a look at where you live, and
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: plan your trip. So if you, for example, fuel Express
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: is always the cheapest, So if you go need to
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: go to an elec during the week, keep an eye
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: on the app, have a look at your loyalty cards
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: if you've got any, and just make sure that you
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: plan your trips to get the cheapest fuel when you can. Yeah,
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: I mean that will drive competition. If everyone you know
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: continues to buy from the cheapest place, that should start
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: seeing other fuel companies fall into line.
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I guess we always hope that I know that
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: I get on here most days and certainly have a look.
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: And fuel Express always seems to be the cheapest around
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: the Darwin area. It's they're pretty well on par out
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: In Parmston, everyone seems to be the same price. But
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: then you know, even looking there today, they're at a
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: dollar sixty three point five. Literally everybody else is on
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: a dollar sixty nine, whether it's a dollar sixty nine
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: point five, a dollar sixty nine point seven, or a
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: dollar sixty nine point nine. There is one that's a
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: bit further there at a dollar seventy point nine, but
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: it seems like they almost use the app to bloody
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: keep an eye on each other.
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: I couldn't comment about that, but you know, the retailers
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: can look at it, and consumers can also look at it,
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: and there's a number of reasons why if your prices
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: are what they are, and you know they put the
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: prices there accordingly. And all I can say is keep
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: an eye on the app and just make sure that
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: you buy it from the cheapest place.
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: Yeah, hey, Sandy. On a separate topic, we've been contacted
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: by a number of locals who've been caught up in
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: the Optus data breach. I know that more than ten
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: million customers as I understand it, around Australia have had
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: their personal details stolen and released by hackers who then
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: basically held the company to ransom. What is your advice
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: for local calls if they're concerned about how their personal
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: information might be used.
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: If they think that the ID is stolen or there
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: is some concerns there. There's an organization called ID Care.
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: They should be contacting them, but they are the actual
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: national experts on dealing this type of breach. I'll give
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: you their number, Their number one, eight hundred and five
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: nine five one six O