Tuesday, 17 March 2026

 Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:05): We know that fuel price rises are hitting Victorian families hard and that every time the price of fuel at the pump jumps it means more out of the weekly budget for Victorian families and households. At a time when so many of these families are already stretched, it means there is not a lot of room left in the household budget, so the last thing that families should be concerned about is also being ripped off at the service station. That is why our government is taking strong action now to stop price gouging. Indeed just last Tuesday our new laws came into effect – new laws that require fuel retailers to report their prices, giving Victorians tools, quite literally in the palm of their hand, with the information that they need to be able to find the lowest price in their local area. This is not only saving Victorians time, it is also saving Victorians money.

I do note, just for completeness, that this was an initiative opposed by those opposite. But it is not opposed by Victorians, because we have seen just in the last week over 119,000 Victorians use the Servo Saver app. They have gone to find the cheapest price, knowing that those prices will not change, because we have required those prices to be locked in for a 24-hour period and they are being enforced by Consumer Affairs Victoria. That is why today we announced that we are going even further. With concern about the ongoing conflict in Iran and the impact that is having on fuel prices around the globe, we are strengthening the work of our investigators and inspectors and legal enforcement to go in and ensure that these important laws are enforced, to continue to have that focus on Victorian families and households.