If the cost of living and wage stagnation wasn’t bad enough in Australia, we’re all about to pay much more for petrol, with the fuel excise cut set to end.
The former Morrison government’s six-month halving of the fuel excise tax, announced in its last federal budget in March, is due to expire at midnight tonight.
Surprisingly, queues at petrol stations aren’t that bad – yet – although that’s in part because some petrol stations have already reportedly started to hike their prices in anticipation of the excise cut, which is a bit shonky (more on that later).
It wasn’t too long ago that we were seeing ridiculous queues at petrol stations to take advantage of the excise cut… Now we might see the reverse.
Petrol prices around the world have been exceptionally volatile thanks to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia is one of the world’s biggest fossil fuel exporters, and halts on Russian fuel imports and sanctions have deeply affected the fuel market (and global economy more broadly).
How much more will I be paying for fuel?
Once the excise cut ends, drivers can expect to pay about 25 cents per litre more for petrol – 22c more in excise and about 3c more in GST. Most cars have a 45 to 65-litre tank, so you’ll likely pay between $11.25 and $16.25 more per tank going forward (depending on location and fuel grade).
The NRMA’s Peter Khoury said his organisation, as well as the consumer watchdog, would closely monitor petrol prices, explaining “it will take several days in the capital cities and possibly even longer – up to two weeks – in regional areas [for prices to rise]… Because service stations already have existing stock before they go and restock fuel at the increased rates.”
That’s just it: petrol stations and companies have been buying fuel at a cheaper rate for months, and that fuel’s already in their tanks; they’ve already paid the excise – so theoretically, it shouldn’t mean prices leap immediately starting tomorrow.
That said, petrol companies are like banks: no matter the market, they’ll always win. Not all of the savings from the fuel excise cut were passed onto consumers, but you can bet they’ll jump at any chance to raise prices…
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