Brisbane petrol price surge drives motorists to price-tracking apps

As the Queensland Government says it can’t stop surging petrol prices, motorists are taking matters into their own hands.

Hundreds of thousands of motorists are trying to save money at the bowser by using price-tracking mobile apps, as Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says there nothing more the State Government can do to reduce costs.

Real-time fuel-price-monitoring apps and websites are being used an average 750,000 times a month in Queensland.

In what was the highest usage since fuel price reporting started in December 2018, apps and websites were used 783,862 times in May.

As record prices sting Queenslanders’ hip pockets, the state’s peak motoring body said people needed to realise that petrol stations weren’t charging the same.

The Premier said the Government couldn’t do anything more but comparing prices helped.

“Our reporting scheme is to let the consumer know where the differential prices are across the region so that’s for them to have a look at it,” she said.

“I’m not in charge of setting the prices, the market sets that.”

The Government last December announced its two-year real-time fuel-price-monitoring scheme was being made permanent.

At the time, 20,000 people were using the apps each day.

Vanessa Cribb fills up at Freedom Fuels in Brisbane’s Red Hill this week. Picture: Josh Woning

However this has since increased to more than 25,000 a day.

Fuel prices continued to remain high yesterday, with unleaded upwards of $1.76 a litre in areas like Jindalee and Herston in Brisbane.

RACQ spokeswoman Renee Smith said prices around Queensland, particularly around Brisbane and Ipswich, were going through the roof.

“The more people use the apps the better,” she said.

“Anyone who hasn’t downloaded one of these apps, we really encourage you to do so.

“We have never seen prices this high.”

Asked how more motorists could be encouraged to download the apps, Ms Smith said drivers needed to realise service stations weren’t all charging the same.

“The money is better in your pockets at times like this,” she said.

“We want a competitive market.

“If we’re just filling up whenever … there’s every chance we’re going to get ripped off.”

The RACQ Monthly Fuel Report for June showed Brisbane was the most expensive capital city to buy fuel in the country last month.

The average cost of unleaded was 150.3c per litre – 4.3c per litre more expensive than in Sydney.

It was 4.1c per litre higher than the May average.