Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Member for Brennan Marie-Clare Boothby says the government has put the breaks on the CLP’s Fuel Price Disclosure Bill pushing debate into February

Transcript

Member for Brennan Marie-Clare Boothby says the government has put the breaks on the CLP’s Fuel Price Disclosure Bill pushing debate into February · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Like aways say, I watch Parliament so you guys don't
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: have to, but sometimes it can get a bit frustrating
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: as you see certain things happening, and question times always
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: a time where you do sort of scratch your head
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: in a few different ways. But yesterday I know that
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: the COLP was pretty fired up after they'd done their
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: best to put forward their opposition fuel disclosure Bill and
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: then rather than you know, rather than then going to
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: a voge. Essentially, what's happened is my understanding is that
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: it's been now pushed, well, the debate's been pushed into February.
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: Now joining me on the line to tell us a
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: little bit more about exactly what went on is the
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: Opposition's Marie Claire Boothby. Good morning to your Marie Claire.
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: Good morning Katie, and good morning to your listeners.
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: Talk me through exactly what happened yesterday when it comes
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: to the fuel price Disclosure Bill.
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so, as you may have alluded to, we actually
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: introduced this bill back in August and at that time,
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: Darwin motorists are actually paying thirty cents more than their
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: southern capitals, which is you know, horrendous. So then last
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: night we finally got to debate the bill in straightaway,
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: sin as Labor got up to speak about it, they
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: said they would not back that bill, and rather than
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: allowing that vote to occur, they literally kicked it down
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: the road until after February, which means that every single
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: time territories fill up at that Bowser over Christmas, they
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: should think about Natasha Files and Labor because again they
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: have proved that they're siding with the fuel, the big
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: field companies, and they're not backing territorians. They really are
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: out of touch and they're out of ideas, and they
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: literally are not listening to territoriums.
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: And so why did they push it further along? Why
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: not just have that vote?
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: Well exactly, and that's the question we want to ask.
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: Like they are siding with the big field companies. They
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: don't actually believe in this whatsoever. They think that territories
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: aren't getting ripped off, which is completely at odds with
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: their own labor Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers, who believes that
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: you know, refiners inmputers and wholesalers, they should consider themselves unnoticed.
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: You know, we had Luke Gosling also speaking out saying
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: that Territorians were taken for mugs and that they need
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: the biggest stick. So there's all these people talking about
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: how this needs to happen and Territorians can't keep paying
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: higher fuel prices and can't be continue to be gouged,
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: and yet Natasha Files just basically their whole team just
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: talked and talked and talked until the time ran out,
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: ultimately kicking it down the road until next year.
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: Mary Claire talk us through this fuel price disclosure bill
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: for those out there listening this morning that maybe don't
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: know exactly what this would have seen. What was the
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: CLP proposing.
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: Here, So basically it was going to force the big
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: fuel retailers, so not the small independence but the big
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: fuel retailers, to disclose their profit margins, which promotes competition.
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: And it is actually in line with the atripal C
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: and their recommendations back in twenty fifteen. And what we
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: saw is that Natasha Files decided to not go with
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: those recommendations and instead just kick it down the road.
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: I don't think she wants to have this conversation with Territorians.
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: She doesn't want to fish them and tell them that
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: they could do something about the cost of living here
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: in the territory, but they're choosing not to.
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: And so how do you reckon by making those big
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: fuel retailers disclose their profit margins, how do you reckon
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: that'll bring down the price.
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: Well, it makes them disclose them so that they have
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: to show it to territorieness exactly what's going on, and
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: you know, create that competition. And our whole intention with
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: this legislation was that from opposition, we created a small
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: piece of legislation which would shine o lights on the
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: fact that their territorians were being gouged. The government had
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: every opportunity to come in and say, okay, great, let's
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: have a look at this then, and what else can
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: we do to make this even tighter or bolster it
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: or whatever they can. They've got the people in government
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: there that could look at this and to really pay attention.
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: But what they've done is just walked completely away from
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: it and said, well, no, there's nothing we can do.
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: We even had last night questions that we asked about, well,
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: if you're not going to support this bill, then what
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: are you going to do about it? What are you
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: going to do with territorians to reduce the cost of
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: living and they have nothing. There's no plan there whatsoever,
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: and that gives territorians no confidence at all.
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: I mean, has the CLP look, you know, I think
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: this Billy is a good idea, but have you missed
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: the mark here a little bit in terms of the timing?
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: Well, I mean, when can we when it's a good
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: time to have a lower.
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: A few months ago? You know, a few months ago
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: would have been a good time when it was at
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: its at its peak.
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Well, and it continues to fluctuate. We've seen that
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: right across the territory and there's a real difference between
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: you know, prices at different stations right throughout the territory
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: as well. But I mean we we also did try
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: and bring this on a couple of months ago and
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: that got knocked back as well. So there's a whole
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: heap of things going on here where the Tasha files.
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: She doesn't want to talk about this. She's quite happy
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: just to let it slide and let territories continue to suffer.
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: I mean, we spoke to a business who basically set
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: showed us an invoice that had a forty two percent
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: fuel levee on every invoice for palettes which were being
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: received at their shop. Now they can't always put that
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: price onto consumers because you know, you can't put up
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: milk forty two percent or bread. You know, that's just
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: not palatable. So they're having to absorb that. So the
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: cost of small businesses is also detrimental. And have time
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: right now where businesses are being attacked with criminals and
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: that's out of control. You know, we've already seen you know,
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: economic problems for the last number of years, let alone COVID.
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: I mean, we just can't afford for anything else to
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: go wrong for our small businesses. And again this proves
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: you know, they're out of touch, they're not listening, and
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: they are completely out of ideas because, like I said,
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: they had every opportunity to tell territories what they are
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: doing to reduce the cost of lidding, and they haven't
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: done that at all. We have nothing from them.
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: Well, Marie Claire Boosby, we always appreciate your time. Thank
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: you very much for stepping out of Parliament today to
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: have a quick chat with us. What's on the agenda today, Yeah, today.
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: They're actually looking to pass some legislation to finally start
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: the implementation process for b TOLOO for the gas they
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: on sure Gas. So we are supporting that legislation. We
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: think it's about time. I think this is the last,
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: absolute last day they could bring on this legislation to
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: make sure it happened once and for all. So yeah,
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: we're supporting that. Finally. You know, it's taken the whole long,
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: long time to get to this point, but hopefully we
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: can see some traction now out of the bloo Marie Claire.
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: Always good to catch up with you. Thank you so
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: much for having a chat with me this morning.
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: You're welcome. Thank you, Katey, thank you.