2 June, 2026
The Hon. R.A. SIMMS (16:34): I rise to speak on the Fair Trading (Fuel Pricing Information Penalties) Amendment Bill on behalf of the Greens. The bill before us proposes to amend the Fair Trading Act 1987 to improve the compliance framework by increasing existing penalties for fuel retailers who do not provide accurate information on the price at which they are selling fuel. I understand the bill will increase the existing expiations to $5,000 from just $550 and increase the maximum penalty which can be issued by the courts to $20,000 from $10,000.
The scheme came into operation in 2021 under the then Marshall Liberal government, which established a near real-time reporting scheme where South Australians could access fuel price information in real time, making it easy for motorists to find the cheapest fuel closest to them at any given period. Most recently, it has proved a useful tool during the fuel crisis, as it enables consumers to know where fuel shortages are at a particular time. In South Australia, I understand there are 394 fuel retailers currently registered across 745 sites.
In the Deputy Premier's own words, since its introduction Consumer and Business Affairs has monitored compliance of the scheme with over 4,000 inspections undertaken in metropolitan, regional and remote suburbs of South Australia. In this time, the compliance and enforcement approach taken by Consumer and Business Affairs under the Fair Trading Act has resulted in over 70 expiations issued and more than 450 warning letters.
I am disappointed, though, that the bill does not do more to respond to fuel gouging at the bowser, despite the number of warning letters and expiations that have been issued since the scheme commenced. It is one thing to issue warnings, it is another to take definitive action, and it is clear that some fuel retailers continue to do the wrong thing and take advantage of consumers, particularly at this time of global instability.
The bill will only increase penalties for lying about why prices are rising, but it does not do anything to actually address increasing prices. During a cost-of-living crisis, the price at the pump matters. Corporations are using this war to cover up for price rises across the economy, so in that context the government's response is underwhelming.
I might point out, though, that I do not blame the Malinauskas government for what has occurred here. The fault, of course, lies with the deranged Donald Trump over in Washington, whose absurd interventionist foreign policy approach has created this disaster that has ricocheted across the world. The fault lies with the Trump administration, and those in this place and elsewhere who support the Trump administration might also reflect on the role that they play in creating this catastrophe because the toxic policies of Donald Trump and the US Republican Party and its handmaidens overseas really have created this disaster for us all to deal with.
So the fault is not with the Malinauskas government. As meagre as this bill is, they are attempting to take some action, but from the Greens' perspective, we will continue to call out some of the insane foreign policies of the Trump administration which, might I say, have not been called out adequately by the Albanese government in Canberra, which has been found to be weak and ineffectual in its dealings with the Trump administration and the appalling way they have handled the unfolding issues in Iran.