The Tasmanian government has been unable to confirm whether any compliance checks have been carried out on service stations in the fortnight since a global oil crisis sent fuel prices soaring.
Deputy Premier Guy Barnett told a parliamentary committee on Friday he was not aware of any field inspections taking place.
He was also unable to explain how the state’s consumer affairs regulator was monitoring fuel prices.
“I’d have to take advice from the director of CBOS and get back to you,” Barnett said when asked directly whether inspections had occurred.
Pressed on how compliance was being monitored, he said he would “have to talk to them about that”.
The exchange comes as average unleaded petrol prices in Tasmania sit at about $2.36 a litre, with diesel at $2.73 a litre, according to figures provided to the committee by the state’s energy planning director.
By Saturday afternoon, diesel prices in Hobart were approaching $3 a litre.
Labor MLC Luke Edmunds said Victoria had carried out more than 300 field inspections in recent weeks, finding about 10% of service stations were not complying with price reporting requirements.
“Labor is calling on the Rockliff government to wake up and start policing compliance on fuel prices,” he said on Saturday.
“Barnett couldn’t say for certain whether Tasmania’s FuelCheck app prices were accurate and it’s clear no inspections of prices at the pump of local stations have occurred.”
Barnett said he had written to the ACCC urging greater vigilance on price gouging and to the federal treasurer seeking stronger enforcement powers.
He said the government had also convened two industry roundtables, with a third scheduled for Monday.
Consumers concerned about discrepancies between the state’s FuelCheck app and prices at the bowser were advised to contact CBOS on 1300 654 499.
Edmunds said the government’s response amounted to “nothing except writing a letter”.
“Other states have gone into overdrive trying to check compliance with their apps so that the public have some confidence in what they’re seeing through those apps about petrol prices,” Edmunds said.
“I think Tasmania should be at least doing that so Tasmanians can have confidence when they’re filling up their cars.”
