Australia: A numbers game that’s hard to win

Motorists “know” that petrol retailers get together and fix petrol prices or, at least, think they know. Motorists also think government should “do something” about it.

The legal reality of proving the existence of price fixing and doing something about it is difficult, as was made clear by this week’s Federal Court decision exonerating a number of Geelong petrol retailers accused of price fixing.


The government-appointed watchdog for anti-competitive conduct, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, is the meat in the sandwich between the public perception that something is rotten in the petrol industry and the legal problems of proving it.

It is no bad thing for our watchdogs to be expected to perform their task diligently, but motorists should be aware of the price that they are paying for their demand to “do something” where the commission’s prospects of success are limited both by the market reality of the oil industry and the limits of the law as it is written and interpreted. Success may require that the law be changed to make it easier to prove price fixing.

Sydney Morning Herald