Australia news live: Chalmers asks regulator to watch service stations ‘like a hawk’ as fuel excise cut ends

Fuel excise cut, which was imposed after outbreak of Iran conflict, ended at midnight on Monday. Follow today’s news live Chalmers maintains fuel excise cut never meant to be permanent Jim Chalmers said prices have indeed come up over the past month, but they are “substantially lower” than when the excise relief came into effect. Prices have come up a bit, but they are substantially lower than when we first introduced this excise relief. The excise relief has played a really important role in taking some of the edge off these cost of living pressures that have been turbocharged by a war in the Middle East. It was never intended to be permanent. … It’s done a really important job, but we can’t afford to continue it forever. The regulator will step up its monitoring of fuel price movements. Any price increase that can’t be explained will face serious scrutiny from the ACCC. We’ve jacked up the penalties for petrol stations that rip off Australians. They face multimillion-dollar fines if they break the law. Continue reading...