Investigation looms as Brisbane petrol prices explode to highest in country

Brisbane recorded the highest average petrol price of any capital city in 2024, with the staggering figures prompting calls an immediate investigation.

Brisbane’s petrol prices are the highest in the country.

Brisbane recorded the highest average petrol price of any state capital city in the nation in 2024, with the staggering figures prompting calls for the competition watchdog to launch an immediate investigation.

Major analysis by automotive body and insurer NRMA found Brisbane had the most expensive petrol behind Canberra, with the Sunshine State capital beating Sydney and Melbourne.

Unleaded petrol in Brisbane averaged 195 cents per litre in 2024 compared to 191.1 c/l in Sydney and 190.3 c/l in Melbourne.

It means the average unleaded petrol price in Brisbane was also the highest it’s ever been, surging from a 2020 Covid-19 induced low of 125.8 c/l.

Average cost of diesel in Brisbane this year was 193.8 cents per litre, higher than all cities bar Canberra and Hobart. This is up from the 2020 low of 126.1 c/l.

The astonishing cost has prompted the NRMA to call for the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to launch an immediate investigation into the adverse impacts of fuel price cycles.

NRMA spokesman Peter Khoury said fuel price cycles in the nation’s biggest cities were a major blow to family budgets and a factor in making inflation worse. He said solving the issue in a federal election year was “absolutely critical”.

“Longer price cycles in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne are no friend of the Australian motorist nor our economy and with a cost-of-living election looming in 2025 the NRMA will continue to fight for a fairer deal for our members and all Australian families,” Mr Khoury said.

“There is no justifiable reason for our biggest cities to be among the most expensive – it just doesn’t pass the pub test – and the NRMA wants the ACCC to dive into these longer price cycles and the fact that they have resulted in higher prices for Australian families.

“Artificially inflated prices don’t just hurt families, they also have a negative impact on the Australian economy at a time when cost of living pressures and inflation sit at the top of concerns for Australia’s policymakers and families alike.”

Unleaded petrol prices in Perth, by comparison, have remained relatively steady three years in a row. The average price in the Western Australian capital in 2024 was 181.4 cents per litre, down from 183.8 c/l the year before and 180.1 c/l in 2022.

In Western Australia service station must notify the state’s “Fuel Watch” transparency at 2pm each day of what their prices will be the following day. Those prices are then “locked in” for 24 hours from 6am so motorists can make the best decision on where to buy fuel.

Peak motoring body the RACQ has previously demanded Queensland cap daily fuel price increases by five cents per day.