The greediest, most-thieving corporations in Australia are the oil companies which have thumbed their noses at the Government and consumers for years.They have ripped off motorists for decades, jacking up prices close to weekends and public holidays and manipulating petrol prices from one day to the next.
Now, the new Rudd Labor Government is about to take these corporate giants head-on.
The Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Competition Chris Bowen has announced that the Federal Government will consider regulating petrol prices to stop the Australian public being ripped off any longer.Minister Bowen said he would consider a 3 cents per litre cap in any 24-hour period, if there was evidence of retail collusion.
A 5-year old schoolboy could tell you that that there has been corporate collusion going on for years - with the oil industry fat cats counting their rapacious profits while laughing all the way to the bank.
But is Minister Bowen's approach going to be a big enough stick?
With a 3 cents a litre maximum increase every 24 hours, oil companies would be able to jack up the price of petrol by 12 cents a litre over any 4 day period.
If the Government is really fair dinkum about cracking down on these corporate ripoff merchants, then the maximum allowable price rise should be 1 cent a litre UP or DOWN in any 24 hour period.
This would mean that if the oil companies are going to manipulate the price UPWARDS, they will get caught short if their competitors don't follow suit because their competitors will be able to stay at the lower price - or move even lower - as the price manipulators scramble to match the lower prices, which might take them days, depending on their never-ending greed.
And the winner out of all of this? - The long suffering motoring public of Australia.
Bring on these price controls now!
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