Darwin's Rising Petrol Prices
Thursday February 12, 2009
Darwin and Northern Territorians are bracing themselves for rising petrol prices after reports of petrol reached an average high of 117.4c per litre this month.
The Coles Express-Shell at Truck City, Berrimah, BP Palms at Pinelands and BP Darwin City, Smith Street all reached a top of 133.9c for unleaded petrol, contrasting petrol prices in other Australian capital cities.
In contrast to Darwin's average, Sydney currently rests at an average of 113.5c, Melbourne is at 113.3 while Adelaide and Perth sit on 113.8c.
"It's clearly a rort," said Frank Zumbo, University of NSW competition expert in a report to the Northern Territory News about Darwin's unusually high petrol prices. "Prices in Darwin, as with the rest of NT, are behaving strangely and not in accordance with normal economic principles."
Zumbo wants Australia's petrol commissioner on the case: "We want him to get in his squad car and start interrogating the usual suspects – not sitting at his desk shuffling paper."
