The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has announced that Cairns will be the fourth regional location to be studied as part of the petrol monitoring arrangements introduced by the Australian Government in December 2014.
“Cairns petrol prices are among the highest in Queensland considering its size and location. However, the ACCC also considered a range of other factors before choosing Cairns, such as the price differentials between regional markets and larger cities, price differentials between towns of similar size, and the variability of prices in regional markets,” ACCC Chairman Rod Sims commented “In 2014-15 the average retail price of unleaded petrol in Cairns was 146.4 cpl (cents per litre). This was 12.3 cpl higher than prices in the five largest cities (i.e. Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth),” Sims added.

The chart shows average daily petrol prices in Cairns compared with those in the five largest cities between January 2015 and March 2016. The monthly average difference ranged from a high of 25.3 cpl in January 2015 to a low of 4.1 cpl in March 2015.

Mr. Sims said that the detailed regional market studies aim to explain each component of the prices paid at the bowser to understand why prices are higher in some regional locations. Sims went on to point out that Understanding why petrol prices in Cairns are so high will help us identify the steps that could be taken to increase transparency and promote competition in the Cairns fuel market. It should also provide some explanation of why petrol prices are high in other regional locations around Queensland.