Metropol

nodnirG kraM wrote:130.9ppl for diesel now round the corner.

Is it a particularly expensive garage round the corner? I'd go somewhere else if I were you. Down the road, maybe.

That's equivalent to about $2.70/litre Australian..fuel here costs about $1.50/litre (73 pence). Surely it can't just be taxes?

65% of the price of unleaded in the UK goes to the Chancellor.

nodnirG kraM wrote:Don't bother me! I don't work there!

I should perhaps point out that I was not dismissed from Tesco, nor any other organisation, for misappropriation of any materials, least of all AA batteries.

Anyway getting swiftly back on topic. 130.9ppl for diesel now round the corner.

136.0 ppl here in the festering multi-cultural shit hole that is Bristol.

timgraham wrote:That's equivalent to about $2.70/litre Australian..fuel here costs about $1.50/litre (73 pence). Surely it can't just be taxes?

Tim, Australia has among the cheapest petrol in the developed world (although the US is certainly cheaper). The difference often relates to taxes. To quote from a Reuters report (and reinforcing what marksi said), "Britain levies the highest fuel duty in the European Union with nearly 65 percent of the pump price of petrol due to tax."

I remember seeing a graph in The Economist once which compared the wholesale price paid in a bunch of different countries plus the various taxes imposed on top. I'll see if I can dig it out.

EDIT:
OK - found the graph I wanted. From The Economist:


It's also worth seeing similar charts from the Australian Institute of Petroleum which include the wholesale price as well. They have both petrol and diesel as well to compare. But what they also show is that the wholesale prices are fairly consistent across the developed world, and the largest difference in prices comes from the taxes levied on top.

That graph looks mildly pornographic.

Mary Whitehouse might say.

I had a feeling that may be the case - it kind of discredits the argument recently put forward by the Opposition here that reducing taxes on fuel would be a great idea. (It really isn't - I understand the pressures of inflation and so on but cars are exactly the sort of thing that I feel we should be trying to discourage, and possibly tax more.)

timgraham wrote:I had a feeling that may be the case - it kind of discredits the argument recently put forward by the Opposition here that reducing taxes on fuel would be a great idea. (It really isn't - I understand the pressures of inflation and so on but cars are exactly the sort of thing that I feel we should be trying to discourage, and possibly tax more.)

While I agree in principle, increased taxes will only have that sort of effect if there are alternatives people can substitute to. Public transport infrastructure in Australia is broadly underdeveloped, and virtually non-existent in country areas. The choice some people are currently making in terms of higher petrol prices is one of whether they can afford to leave the house that day - that certainly shouldn't be the desired outcome. As I say to my first years all the time, what we're interested in here is incentives. In this case, if we want to seriously change people's transport habits, then there's got to be something they can switch to! In the short term, that's probably better public transport. Taking a longer term view though, it's about alternative fuel sources and making those technologies accessible.