Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Simon Parham: Waitomo Group CEO on the Commerce Commission calling out fuel prices ahead of the removal of the Auckland Fuel Tax

Transcript

Simon Parham: Waitomo Group CEO on the Commerce Commission calling out fuel prices ahead of the removal of the Auckland Fuel Tax · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: It's the move from the government yesterday for farmers, the
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: ets hey wakinos and the burden Thank goodness, common sensors
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: back in town. How they solved the problem. Of course,
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: it's the big questions. So we'll talk more about that
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: before six million time. At five twenty, it's the old story,
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: I guess, isn't it. The ComCom comes and tells us
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: the fuel companies can't wait to get those prices up.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: They're lots larwer to bring them down. According to the calculations,
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: that costs us the motorist about fifteen million dollars a year. Now.
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: Simon Parham is the Wye Tomo Group chief executive and
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: is with us Simon morning to you what any of
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: Mike ComCom right or not or I.
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: Can't comment on my competitive activities. But at white time
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: we're a little different because we get a weekly price,
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: so we set our price weekly and if we have
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: to drop that through the week, we make that call
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: through the week. I think it's more the ComCom raising
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: awen it's ahead of the Auckland fuel tax or regional
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: fuel touch removal at the endless month.
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: Right, So they're playing a game whereby when it comes
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: at the end of the month instantly, because it's a tax,
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: the price will drop at one minute past midnight or whatever.
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: That's what they're saying, right, Yes, absolutely, and that's you
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: know for us, we can't wait to remove it. We
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: thought it was sort of poorly out, poorly thought out,
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: rushed in sort of tax at the time, and it's
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: just created complexity for our customers and for ourselves, So
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: we're looking forward to getting rid of it as soon
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: as we can.
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: Indeed, do you price differently generally speaking? Do you price
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: differently from the other big players?
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I guess where we operate at the end
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: of the market. You know, our customers are hype aware
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: of price, so we're always operating in that really competitive
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: area of the pricing spectrum. So we have to be
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: on the market in every region we operate, otherwise we're
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: out of the market. And I think that comes from
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: the ComCom report that they issued in April and that
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: unattended operators such as waititomo. Not only do we drop
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: prices when we enter the market, but more important, we
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: keep prices down. So I want to be focusing on
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: that fifteen million that they think is lost. It's come
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: to come to places like White Time because I know
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: that we probably delivered five times at per annum and
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: the areas that we operate.
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: See, this is the thing because I walk a fine line.
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: I don't wanted to think the oil industry or anything
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: like that. But it's not like you can't shop around that.
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: It's not like you haven't got gaspee. It's not like
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: there aren't a variation of prices out there. That's fair,
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: isn't it?
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: It's fair, And I think competition is only going to
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: grow that We've got twenty three sites in our pipeline,
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: so we're atching to get into new places across New Zealand.
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: So I'd say that customers don't get sucked in by
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: debate advertising, look at the net price because that's a
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: true test of competitiveness, not just a tense set to
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: lead a discount.
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: Has anything their whole market study and their intervention and
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: not only this area but other is has anything you know,
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: literal come out of this? Are we better off in
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: any way, shape or form.
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think we are. Like there's definitely from our
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: perspective as a distributor or a reseller of product, we
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: see that market has been more competitive. We're getting more
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: transparent pricing so that we can we can test them
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: and I think, you know, we can sleep at night
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: because because of that transparency and they know that we
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: can part on any savings that we get to the pump.
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: See how much do you reckon as actually? I mean
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: we all moan about it, of course. How much of
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: it's reliant on laziness? In other words, yes, I could
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: go and shop and find it and do some homework
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: if I wanted to, But this guy's round the corner,
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: and the price is what it is, and I'm prepared
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: to pay it, And that's the truth of it all.
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, a lot of it. Sometimes people just have
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: to break their habits, you know. I always sort of
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: call it, you know, sometimes you just got to change
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: the wallpaper and then people will notice it. And that's
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: why we're seeing more and more cusses coming to Waitana,
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: especially when it's a cost of living crisis. People are
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: looking for a deal. So get out there and look
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: around and look for those deals. And I think people
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: pleasantly surprised.
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: So you can't argue with that advice. Go well, Simon,
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: appreciate it very much. Simon Perum for more from News
• 3:44
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• 3:48
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• 3:50
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