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Speaker 1: Now we know the cost of petrol is something that

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Speaker 1: we've all been keeping a very close eye on, hoping

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Speaker 1: that it would go down as a result of the

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Speaker 1: fuel excise, and hoping that it was going to go

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Speaker 1: down obviously when the terminal gate price dropped, but we

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Speaker 1: are now seeing that it's going back up. But joining

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Speaker 1: us on the line right now is Anthony Hill, the

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Speaker 1: AANT CEO. Good morning to you, Anthony.

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Speaker 2: Good morning Katie, how are you not.

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Speaker 1: Too bad now? I know that you've been keeping a

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Speaker 1: very close eye on the situation with the petrol prices

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Speaker 1: and in recent weeks had written to the a Triple

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Speaker 1: C asking them to have a closer look into the

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Speaker 1: prices and why there hadn't been any significant changes despite

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Speaker 1: the fuel excise being cut and also the terminal gate

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Speaker 1: price going down. Anthony, what did they tell you?

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Speaker 3: What they told me, Katie was that they do monitor

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Speaker 3: obviously fuel right across the country or capital cities and

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Speaker 3: over one hundred and ninety regional locations, and obviously they've

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Speaker 3: been having a close look at in the NT market

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Speaker 3: and data available to them. At the time, following the

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Speaker 3: announcement of the Australian Government to reduce the excise showed

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Speaker 3: that the Darwin had decreased by about twenty five cents

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Speaker 3: per leter, and daily average diesel prices had to decrease

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Speaker 3: by around twenty nine cents per litera between twenty ninth

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Speaker 3: and March and the third of May. So that's one

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Speaker 3: thing I mean that that to me, that that's just

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Speaker 3: that's that was an expectation based on the fuel excise

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Speaker 3: and that's what was put in place. But what we

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Speaker 3: actually saw at the time was was the drop in

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Speaker 3: oil price and also the drop in therefore terminal gate price.

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Speaker 3: And back in I think it was the sixth of April,

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Speaker 3: terminal gate price was one fifty three, and really throughout

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Speaker 3: all the way through to the twentieth of April there

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Speaker 3: was it was one between one fifty three and one

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Speaker 3: fifty four, down as low as one fifty and what

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Speaker 3: we saw through that period was petrol.

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Speaker 2: Pretty consistent around the one point eighty four point six marks.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, so whilst the excise has been dropped at the

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Speaker 3: same time with that reduction, that wasn't flowed through and

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Speaker 3: we're seeing margins there around about the thirty cents over

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Speaker 3: thirty cents a leter.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, this is the thing. And now, of course those

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Speaker 1: terminal gate prices have gone back up. You know, even

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Speaker 1: for your unlettered today it's at a dollar seventy seven

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Speaker 1: at the terminal gate. For your diesel it's at a

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Speaker 1: dollar ninety three, so they're quite high. But I guess

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Speaker 1: that's been the concern for so many territories is that

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Speaker 1: when those those terminal gate prices go down, we don't

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Speaker 1: see the prices go down very quickly at all. When

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Speaker 1: they go up, it seems as though the cost goes

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Speaker 1: up immediately at the bowser or very soon after.

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Speaker 3: That's right, and that's exactly what we witnessed in April.

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Speaker 3: Throughout April, we're keeping a very close eye on that would.

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Speaker 2: Cause me to write to the April wel C.

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Speaker 3: They've really acknowledged that they need to look at it

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Speaker 3: over a longer, longer period, not just short term. But

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Speaker 3: to me, as you said, you get immediate reactions at

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Speaker 3: the at the bowser when it when it goes up,

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Speaker 3: so there's no reason why it shouldn't go the other way.

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Speaker 3: And you know, I think that the Department of Treasury

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Speaker 3: they put out they put out a report every every

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Speaker 3: month on fuel and the Department of Treasury.

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Speaker 2: The latest one really just confirmed what I mentioned was.

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Speaker 3: That it was you know, it decreased a lot terminal

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Speaker 3: gay price over the previous month in March, and but

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Speaker 3: we didn't see any of that flow through.

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Speaker 1: Is that good enough from your perspective?

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Speaker 2: No, it's not.

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Speaker 3: No, no, no, I don't I certainly don't want want

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Speaker 3: to want to rest here with the a triple se

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Speaker 3: because it's you know, to me, it's it is about

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Speaker 3: the margins. I mean, what what But what they've quoted

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Speaker 3: here really was an expectation of what should have happened

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Speaker 3: anyway through through the excise drop. But I said, our

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Speaker 3: our darker which we have years worth, shows that you know,

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Speaker 3: mar traditionally have been that seven to ten cents and

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Speaker 3: we've been over the thirties and it's not good enough.

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Speaker 2: And I want to respond to this. The response I

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Speaker 2: got from the atriop we'll see as well. Just pointing that.

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Speaker 3: Out, that's how can you have margins around seven to

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Speaker 3: ten cents for so long and then all of a

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Speaker 3: sudden jump up to thirty and that'd be acceptible.

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Speaker 1: So Anthony, where to from here for territories? Because I

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Speaker 1: think a lot of us are just sort of feeling like,

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Speaker 1: you know, we don't really know what to do because

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Speaker 1: it seems as though the petrol companies can do what

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Speaker 1: they want and kind of get away with us.

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Speaker 3: Well, it's a non regulated market, so it is tough

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Speaker 3: and I do think, you know, there's some discussions we

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Speaker 3: can have with the government as well on this, but

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Speaker 3: I do know that studies in the past have shown that,

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Speaker 3: you know, by having government mandate.

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Speaker 2: Pricing, that that doesn't work either.

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Speaker 3: So there was a bill I think going back into

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Speaker 3: the Lake Joels era that didn't get through, didn't get

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Speaker 3: through parliament, but that was a name in shame bill.

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Speaker 3: But we have got the my Fuel app obviously, which

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Speaker 3: exposes the daily price, but when it comes to these margins,

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Speaker 3: it's just, yeah, it's not good enough. And I think

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Speaker 3: the you know, from a territory point of view that

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Speaker 3: the report also shows that in the territory we were

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Speaker 3: the most I think for nine or ten days during April.

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Speaker 3: Darwin is the most expensive nationally and close close by

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Speaker 3: next to Hobart.

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Speaker 1: We are going to have to wrap up. I'm running

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Speaker 1: short on time, but I want to ask you very quickly,

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Speaker 1: so is there I mean you've touched on there that

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Speaker 1: there is something that the government can do. Is that

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Speaker 1: a path that you're going to go down?

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Speaker 2: I think there needs to be some discussions on this now.

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Speaker 3: Obviously the A troop will see haven't responded accordingly, so.

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Speaker 2: I'll write back to them as well.

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Speaker 3: Absolutely, and and we'll just be keeping a very close

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Speaker 3: diye on the margins going forward.

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Speaker 2: And here we go.

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Speaker 3: It is a fluctuating market as we see. You know,

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Speaker 3: we're down to a dollar fifty up to a dollar

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Speaker 3: seventy seven now at Terminal Gate. So we just need

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Speaker 3: to watch and make sure that the when it does

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Speaker 3: come down that they flow through.

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Speaker 1: Katie Well, Anthony Hill, the CEO of the aa n T.

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Speaker 1: We appreciate your time this morning. Thank you for having

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Speaker 1: a chat with me.

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Speaker 2: Thanks Katie, thank you,