AUSTRALIA’S first Petrol Commissioner was appointed yesterday to force oil companies into reining in their controversial pricing behavior.Patrick Walker, Western Australia’s Commissioner for Consumer Protection for the past decade, will become a full-time Australian Consumer and Competition Commissioner, focusing solely on petrol.
Minister for Competition Policy and Consumer Affairs Chris Bowen told The Sun-Herald yesterday that Mr Walker’s job was to ensure petrol companies and executives were held to account over their pricing policies. “If the commissioner asks me for more powers, he will get them,” Mr Bowen said. “He tells me at the moment that he feels he has enough powers, but if he came to me and said he felt he did not, the Government would look at his requests very favourably.” One of Labor’s first acts after winning the November election was to beef up the powers of the ACCC to take on the petrol companies. From December, the ACCC has been able to demand documents from oil companies and subpoena witnesses in relation to anti-competitive conduct. Petrol price rises over the Christmas period fuelled criticism that the ACCC was a toothless tiger when it came to taking on the powerful oil companies. Yesterday, the NRMA welcomed Mr Walker’s appointment as a “good first step” towards fairer pricing. President Alan Evans warned that monitoring fuel prices was one thing, but the real challenge for the commissioner was to have the power to act when oil companies ripped Australians off. Mr Evans said the commissioner should be given the powers to order companies to adjust their prices if they were too high, and issue fines. Mr Walker should also be given the power to force oil companies to drop prices to compensate motorists if they were overcharged, and summon oil executives at any time to explain price discrepancies, he said. Mr Evans warned the Government that “the last thing” Australians needed was preservation of the status quo. Mr Bowen said focusing on petrol was a Government priority because of the role petrol had on inflation and its impact on the family budget. Mr Walker will be based in Melbourne when he takes up his post in four weeks. His appointment must be ratified by the Governor-General and at least four states. |
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