Real-time fuel pricing trial to kick off in SA in spring, as Opposition backs State Government plan
SA motorists will soon be able to hunt for the cheapest fuel prices with an app, after the State Government and Opposition agreed on a plan.
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Motorists in SA will be able to access real-time fuel prices though apps to help them bargain hunt within months, as the Opposition backs a long-awaited State Government plan.
Attorney-General Vickie Chapman in May announced a plan that would allow a two-year trial, and give motorists access to current details of the prices at bowsers around them.
It will require petrol stations to report in the information, which will be fed out through apps.
The scheme will then be reviewed, with decisions to be made about a permanent system.
Ms Chapman’s real-time plan has been challenged in Parliament by independent MP Frances Bedford, who has her own proposal to lock prices in place for a 24 hour period. She says that will avoid the frustration of finding that prices have changed once drivers get to the bowser.
With debate on the schemes approaching final stages in Parliament this week, Opposition legal affairs spokesman Kyam Maher told The Advertiser that his party would back both plans.
He said either the Government’s or Ms Bedford’s plan would end the pain for customers who had been waiting too long for greater transparency that could save them money.
“Anything that has the prospect of publicising fuel prices, we will support,” he said.
“It has been two years without any action. We will support both of those bills in the hope that, finally, it will provide some relief for SA motorists.”
The numbers game in State Parliament means that Labor’s support for both schemes will almost certainly end up with the result that Ms Chapman’s real-time plan passes into law.
The Government intends to have the trial up and running by spring.
The fuel watch transparency app was a Liberal state election promise in 2018.
That delay even led to splintering in Liberal ranks, as regional federal MP Tony Pasin urged faster action in April and said transparency and competition was key to pushing prices down.
Ms Chapman said the SA Productivity Commission found real-time pricing would work best, avoiding “unnecessary red tape and costs that are passed onto motorists”.
Meanwhile, the Government is moving to roll back state-based laws aimed at protecting consumers who buy gift cards after a national takeover of how they are regulated.
Ms Chapman said SA was among the first states to impose a mandatory minimum three-year expiry date on gift cards, and creating a national scheme was “a huge win for consumers”.
“While the objectives of the two sets of laws remain the same, namely to mandate a three year expiry date period and restrict any administrative fees that reduce the card’s value, this is a clear case where state laws are no longer needed,” she said.