A Tasmanian fuel distributor says it has received a threat to “blow up” its office amid frustration over rising petrol prices.
Tas Petroleum revealed the threat on social media after what it described as three weeks of escalating hostility from some customers following the outbreak of conflict in the Middle East.
“We are a 100% Tasmanian-owned and operated fuel distributor, not a big oil company,” the company said.
“Yet during this time our staff have been abused daily, our sites vandalised and unbelievably we have even received a message from someone threatening to blow up our office.”
Tas Petroleum said it was not setting prices but passing on wholesale increases from suppliers, with costs sometimes rising by 10 to 20 cents per litre overnight.
“These are prices given to us, not prices we invent,” the company said.
Tas Petroleum also pointed to federal fuel taxes, arguing the government was the real beneficiary of higher prices.
It said fuel excise sits at 52.6 cents per litre, while GST adds roughly 25 cents at current prices – bringing the total tax component to about 77.6 cents per litre.
With Tasmania consuming an estimated 3 to 3.5 million litres of fuel daily, the company said that equates to between $2.3 million and $2.7 million in fuel tax collected from the state each day.
It said the GST component alone had increased by about 10 cents per litre because wholesale prices had jumped roughly a dollar in recent weeks.
“History shows that Tas Petroleum has consistently been a price leader in the Tasmanian market dragging prices down in every region we have entered,” the company said.
“When prices rise, unfortunately we must pass on the wholesale increases given to us.”
“But when the market falls, Tas Petroleum has always led prices back down and we give Tasmanians our promise that we will do that again.”
