As the inevitable fuel price-rises bear down on us like a freight train, I am surprised that some people think its sensible to sit in the middle of the tracks, discussing whether 10c here or there will save us from from the impact.

Spend 10c/litre on reducing the price now... 20c next month, $1 next year, whatever. We can choose how much our country can afford to spend on subsidies but whatever we choose, the oil price will eventually exceed it.

The pollies should be leaders, spending our tax dollars on innovation and alternatives, rather than on measures that pander to inertia and mislead us into thinking that its OK to remain on the tracks, and that the train will somehow miss us.

Toot toot! :-)

This enthusiasm for making 10 cent tax adjustments to the price of fuel while it is varying by 50% in a few months is bizarre. 10 cents is like a ripple on heavy seas - hardly noticeable.

It also assumes the price is the problem. This is rather like assuming a smokers cough is the problem - cure the cough and the problem will go away. Hopefully this speculative bubble in oil prices will burst soon, but the falling price won't mean the problem has gone away.

And the Fuel Watch being anti competitive meme seems to of taken on a life of its own. Its not anti competitive - if anything the reverse, in fact. Without Fuel Watch we customers don't know what the going price for petrol is. In order to find out a customer has spend time and money (fuel for driving around). This means the petrol station can charge slightly more than the real going rate for fuel - the difference being the amount of money the customer has to spend to find the market price. Charge too much of course and the customer will drive around, so the harder they make finding the current price the more they can charge, and by varying the prices hourly they can and do make it real hard. This is the underlying reason petrol prices change like they do.

Fuel Watch gives customers price information for free, so the petrol stations no longer get to pocket the price of finding it out. In effect Fuel Watch is moving petrol closer to that economists ideal - the "perfect market". In a perfect market all buyers and sellers know all available information, and thus can make informed decisions. In all other situations someone is being done over. In the case of petrol, the oil companies work very hard to ensure it is the customers who are done over.

If every retailer was forced to publish their prices publicly like this we would all be better off. Its unlikely it will happen - retailers would kick and scream. But I can dream.

What we're looking at is the age old competition between vested interests a bit like arguing over who get the most comfy deck chair on the Titanic.
We’ve missed the good ship “Bountiful Oil” that ship has sailed. While we’re busy worrying about petrol we’re miss seeing the Icebergs (plural) looming on the horizon.
If we make it cheaper we’ll:
• Encourage usage of petrol.
• Increase Global Climate Change.
• AND THE REAL BIGGY: Deplete our source of petroleum AND ALL ASSOCIATED PRODUCTS!
All conversations I’ve seen are focused on Petrol what about plastics, colouring, paints, flavoring, disinfectants, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, fabrics and Sources for energy (Kerosene etc) the list goes on an on. Simply look around you and then consider the man made products surrounding you odds are they are made of or require petroleum products in their manufacture.
The problem is WAY bigger than fueling the family car it existance is in doubt regardless of the fuel. As for replacements for all those products? We haven’t got a clue!!
We are facing and it’s not an over statement life without petroleum is at the moment the end of our current civilization as we know it. Sure it’s a while off yet but protecting our personal interests is in the long run is a bit like the optimistic base jumper with a failed ‘chute heard saying as he hurtled past each floor towards the ground “Where’s the problem? So far so good”.
On a more immediate sense the most suffering the most are the low/fixed income, unemployed as it is they who have the least choices. They need their cars but can least afford the fuel. Neither can they afford a new low emission car.
Governments should act now with a comprehensive, coherent plan to address the real problems facing humanity.
Maybe the Arab prophecy is right after all, “my grandfather rode a camel, my father drove a Rolls, I fly a jet, my grand son will ride a camel….That’s progress?”.

Dropping the excise won't work the fuel companies will just absorb the difference because they know people will pay whatever they have to pay. A better idea would be for the government to work with independent service station owners to set fuel prices at whatever the government feels is a fair market price. The government could then reimburse the independents the difference between the set price and whatever the major fuel companies are charging, probably a few cents per litre. They should only have to subsidise the price for a little while before the major fuel companies drop into line. Dropping the excise will achieve absolutely nothing, we need to stimulate competition.

No This is a waste of everybody's time.

We need to do what we should have done after the oil problem in the 70's.

Change fuel. It's that simple. That removes the threat of no supply or being held to ransom.

We have the perfect country for so many alternate energies but people like the last X Prime Ministers simply cow tow to business and let us pay the price for their negligence.

Fuelwatch is useful for those who want to use it but who really wants to travel Y kilometres to save a cent a litre. You'll just spend it getting there.

Nelson's 5 cents a litre too is a waste of time.

Change energy and do it now. We need to do that anyway for the future of the planet. Do you think perhaps, maybe the greedy people who have the money now can see that? They sure can and spend billions trying to snow everyone.

Our governments are brilliant. Their solutions to problems like traffic congestion is an fine example. Tax people off the roads. Excellent idea if you are rich. Otherwise get a bicycle is their attitude. OK as long as they start riding bicycles everywhere they go. Hope they enjoy the Sydney Perth trip.

http://www.teslamotors.com/index.php

There is your answer, that is what is possible today.

Take that kind of technology, make it affordable,
(not everyone needs a Lotus type sportscar)

Power generators already produce surplus power all
night, perfect for charging the batteries.

The Prius isn't going to solve anything, other then
reduce fuel consumption a bit in traffic.

Govts have now already peed 70 million $ up against the
wall on old technology.

If they are going to do something, do something new,
not just keep subsidising old technology.

BTW, last weekend's AFR contained some substantial
information about the potential of electrics