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Speaker 1: All eyes though at the moment are certainly on the

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Speaker 1: fuel prices and until they stop rising, that's probably going

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Speaker 1: to keep happening. And we know that the main point

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Speaker 1: of discussion is how it seems that companies continue to

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Speaker 1: increase the course the moment that that terminal gate price rises,

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Speaker 1: even if they possibly haven't had a delivery. Now, one

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Speaker 1: place in the Northern Territory that it's been promised that

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Speaker 1: that isn't going to happen. Is it Robinson River, a

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Speaker 1: community about one hundred and fifty kilometers southeast of Bori Lula,

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Speaker 1: and the CEO, Carrie Altamura, and she is the CEO

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Speaker 1: of the Mungabata Aboriginal Corporation, joins me on the line.

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Speaker 2: Good morning, Carry Good morning Katie.

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Speaker 1: Now, Carrie, you guys took to social media a little

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Speaker 1: earlier in the week to well to say that you're

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Speaker 1: not going to increase your fuel prices in Robinson River.

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Speaker 1: Can you explain to us the setup that you've got

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Speaker 1: there and how you can keep that promise?

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Speaker 2: Well, Katie, we are an extremely remote community, as you mentioned,

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Speaker 2: we're about one hundred and fifty k's east of Boro Lula.

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Speaker 2: We're about two hundred kilometers from the Queensland border, So

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Speaker 2: just to give some perspective, we are quite remote and

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Speaker 2: each year our roads are declared clothes by Dipple and

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Speaker 2: we have no choice but to stock up for several months,

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Speaker 2: at least six months. Last year our roads were closed

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Speaker 2: for twenty nine weeks, so there were no truck deliveries

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Speaker 2: for twenty nine weeks, so we ordered quite a sufficient

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Speaker 2: amount of fuel, which was delivered in late November, and

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Speaker 2: we still have quite a bit on hand because we'll

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Speaker 2: need it. It'll probably be another at least eight weeks

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Speaker 2: until the roads are open again, so we need to

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Speaker 2: be able to actually provide fuel to the community. So

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Speaker 2: we've got that stock on hand. We purchased it well

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Speaker 2: before any of this had happened on a global left,

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Speaker 2: and there is no reason to increase our prices good price.

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Speaker 2: Our prices were set at the at the wholesale price

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Speaker 2: that we purchased it, and there's absolutely no need for

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Speaker 2: us to increase it any further until we get a

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Speaker 2: next delivery, until we require a next delivery, but right now,

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Speaker 2: there's no point. There's there's there's there's no benefit to anybody,

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Speaker 2: in particular the community if we go to price gous

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Speaker 2: just for the sake of it good. We're keeping our

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Speaker 2: price as exactly as they are until this supply runs out,

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Speaker 2: and then we'll review it.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. Well and hopefully I mean goodness, we're all hoping

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Speaker 1: by that stage carry hopefully these bloody prices have gone

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Speaker 1: down a little bit. But I guess time will tell

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Speaker 1: you know. Why is it important for you to you know,

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Speaker 1: and for for you guys to put that commitment out

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Speaker 1: there so that you know, so that your community but

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Speaker 1: also the wider community.

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Speaker 2: No, Well, one is we're only a very small community,

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Speaker 2: but we also service a lot of our stations, so

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Speaker 2: our local people need to drive in and out from

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Speaker 2: our community to out stations to get their supplies and

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Speaker 2: to keep their homes running, and to inflate those prices

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Speaker 2: like that, it's just unfair on them completely. And with

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Speaker 2: all the bad news stories about the fact that people

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Speaker 2: are being ripped off line at the Bowder, I wanted

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Speaker 2: to let our community and our surrounding community know that

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Speaker 2: they'll be find in Robinson River and we will look

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Speaker 2: after them.

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Speaker 1: You legends, carry tell me what are your prices currently

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Speaker 1: sitting at now? You might be the cheapest in the territory.

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Speaker 2: It probably would be our diesel is at two dollars

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Speaker 2: fifty and our un letters is at two dollars fifty four.

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Speaker 2: And that's a pretty normal price for us out here

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Speaker 2: because it's extremely costly to get fuel delivered here. So

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Speaker 2: normally our prices probably sit betre between the two dollars

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Speaker 2: thirty to the two dollars sixty, depending on the purchase price. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: so what we're what we're at is pretty normal for

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Speaker 2: us in our in our area. But we haven't changed them.

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Speaker 2: They've been like that for a year, and we won't

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Speaker 2: be changing them at all until we have to.

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Speaker 1: Well, And that's actually one of the good things that

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Speaker 1: I'm noticing at the moment is even as you go

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Speaker 1: through the you know, like even as I go through

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Speaker 1: the deesel and unleaded prices, the ones that are at

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Speaker 1: the cheapest at the moment in most situations are actually

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Speaker 1: you know, our independence. And I don't know if they're

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Speaker 1: in a similar situation to you where they've already got

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Speaker 1: that fuel stock there and they want to do the

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Speaker 1: right thing by the community. I'm not sure you know

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Speaker 1: what the reasoning is behind it, but you know, at

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Speaker 1: this point in time. Those independent servos in most cases

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Speaker 1: are the ones that are doing the right thing by

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Speaker 1: the community, and it would be toughest for you guys.

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Speaker 1: I imagine when those prices do go up and when

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Speaker 1: you do get a delivery, because you know, I know

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Speaker 1: that you're buying it in you know, like a lot

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Speaker 1: over to last year, over a long period of time,

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Speaker 1: but for a lot, you know you're probably buying it.

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Speaker 1: That's having a bigger impact on a lot of a

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Speaker 1: lot of those independent servos because it is so bloody expensive.

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Speaker 2: It will be Yeah, I'm really not looking forward to

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Speaker 2: the prices levels to pay for our next delivery. As

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Speaker 2: you say, let's hope that by then this will all

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Speaker 2: be settled. But I just think that probably because we're

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Speaker 2: a completely independent store, our corporation run our store ourselves,

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Speaker 2: and we we took back to management of our store

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Speaker 2: so that we could look after and support our community.

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Speaker 2: And I think perhaps maybe that's why some of the

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Speaker 2: independents are doing the same thing. They're small operators, they're independent,

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Speaker 2: they're community minded, and they want to look after the

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Speaker 2: people that have looked after them for a very long

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Speaker 2: time by purchasing fuel from them. So we We care

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Speaker 2: for our community and we want to make it as

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Speaker 2: easy as possible for them.

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Speaker 1: Good stuff, Carrie. What's been the reaction from the community.

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Speaker 1: Are people pretty happy or or do some of them

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Speaker 1: not even realize how expensive it is in other places?

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Speaker 2: I I well, once I posted it, once I've made

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Speaker 2: the post on Facebook, we were bombarded with great news

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Speaker 2: and even some people from nearby areas in Boril Lulla

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Speaker 2: have said, we're on our way. But I look, sometimes

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Speaker 2: sometimes in communities like this, you just have to pay

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Speaker 2: the price that you have to pay, and I don't

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Speaker 2: think sometimes people look. They just go and put their

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Speaker 2: twenty dollars in and they just don't look. But I

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Speaker 2: wanted just to reassure the community that we weren't going

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Speaker 2: to go down the road, because it's on the news

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Speaker 2: everywhere every time, you know, you look anywhere on social

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Speaker 2: media to talk about the fuel is there. And it

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Speaker 2: was really just to reassure people that they'll be okay,

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Speaker 2: we're not increasing ours and this business as usual for us.

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Speaker 1: Hey Altamura, the CEO of Manga Barda Aboriginal Corporation, really

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Speaker 1: appreciate you having a chat with us this morning. Good

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Speaker 1: on you and thanks so much for your time.

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Speaker 2: Thank you too, Katie, thank you