Rising costs are never welcome news, especially when they hit close to home and impact everyday essentials.

As the festive season approaches, a looming challenge is set to disrupt budgets and leave many Australians searching for solutions.

What’s driving this sudden shift, and how could it affect you in the weeks ahead?

Aussies were warned to shop around for the best petrol deals as fuel prices spiked nationwide during the festive season.

In Melbourne, petrol prices climbed to 192.0 cents per litre, with further increases expected in the coming weeks, according to the National Roads and Motorists' Association (NRMA).

Fuel prices are expected to climb in the coming weeks. Image source: Pexel/Skitterphoto

Brisbane’s average reached 203.8 cents per litre, while Adelaide saw prices rise to 168.9 cents per litre. Perth (196.0 cents), Hobart (184.8 cents), and Darwin (175.5 cents) also recorded significant increases.

Canberra maintained stability at 196.4 cents per litre, but Sydney motorists fared better with prices dropping from 200.6 cents per litre on December 2 to 189.1 cents per litre.

The decline in Sydney, however, occurred at an unusually slow rate—just 11 cents over 16 days.

In Sydney, nearly a third of service stations offered regular unleaded fuel for under 183 cents per litre, though 22 per cent priced it above $2 a litre.

NRMA spokesman Peter Khoury called on oil companies to address the rising costs, saying: ‘It’s pleasing the cycle is falling in Sydney, what’s less pleasing is that those falls are happening at a snail’s pace at two-thirds of a cent per day, the oil companies must fix this now.’

Motorists in Brisbane and Melbourne were less fortunate, facing price hikes as families prepared for holiday travel.

Regional areas presented a glimmer of hope, with some locations offering petrol up to 40 cents cheaper per litre than urban centres.

Mr Khoury emphasised the benefits of using petrol monitoring apps to locate cheaper prices. He stated: ‘The wholesale price is around 66 so there’s a lot of fat in these margins right now depending on where you fill up.’

He advised motorists heading out of the cities to research prices beforehand, adding, ‘There’s every chance, you may well be going somewhere that’s cheaper than where you are.’

In a previous story, we delved into how a single petrol station ignited debate amidst soaring petrol prices. The excitement over a petrol station’s 99-cent fuel sale has certainly captured the public’s interest. Read the full story here.

Key Takeaways

• Rising costs are becoming a major concern, especially as they affect essential expenses.
• Australians are facing a significant challenge just as the festive season approaches.
• The situation is expected to disrupt budgets and prompt a search for solutions.
• Key factors driving the issue remain a pressing concern for many households.

What’s your strategy for dealing with the rising costs? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

 

[Veggiepatch]

Many years ago we went to the Bundaberg Rum factory and they said they could sell the rum for $15 a bottle if they didn't have the pay the bloody government taxes. I think at that stage the rum was $29 in the shops

It would have been cheaper to buy a bottle of paint stripper....

 

[Reet]

If you live in the country you always have to pay more for petrol because they add a charge for bringing it to you from a capital city. The fact that you probably purchase more petrol in order to get to shops does not occur to the petrol companies. It should be that they make a discount when you have to buy more petrol to begin with!

 

[RobbyNotTheRobot]

Yes, the oil companies are making a motza, just look at The United Arab Emirates oil money and what they do with it is to improve their lifestyle never mind restricting woman.
Having said that, our government is the one ripping us off and what do they do with that money, not much to improve our lifestyle yet the morons keep voting them in and the easy target is to blame the oil companies. I don't vote major parties btw.

 

[freedy50]

Originally from England, I'm glad the petrol has always been so cheap here.
I use E10 all the time and currently locally it's only $1.70 less 6c a litre voucher makes it much cheaper for me.
Someone complained that 55c fuel duty was too expensive. The equivalent in England is currently $1.07 and there's also 20% VAT (their GST) on the whole litre of petrol. A current price for 95 petrol where I used to go is currently the equivalent of $2.67, locally it's about $1.85. Personally, I never complain about the price of petrol.

The only thing I've never liked is the so called petrol cycle. There's no reason to suddenly charge people a higher price for petrol that was bought at a lower price. Especially at these times when a litre can suddenly shoot up 30/40c in an afternoon.

 

[Aussie all the Way]

Tassie $1.82 ltr unleaded, but apparently we don't even belong to Australia cause they didn't bother to quote our prices

 

[Dolphin]

Some people are luckier than others. It has been over $2.00 on the Woy Woy Peninsula while in Gosford it is sometimes 40c cheaper. There are a lot of older drivers who are not allowed to drive off the Peninsula to get the cheaper fuel in Gosford because of their restricted licences. Price gouging.

 

[Baz1960]

It's all of a fast for Petroleum companies and the government.. when we keep on buying the price goes. Wait for the increase of registration for electric cars.. something has to increase for road and structure taxes.

 

[IAN3005]

I wrote to the NRMA when this 'petrol cycle' began asked what it was all about and a couple of more questions. Their response was that they didn't post my letter in the magazine. When I inquired about why their response was that it would be 'too inflamatory to do so.' So much for their slogan, 'we are here to help.' As for their spokesperson, Mr Khoury, well his employer ie: NRMA, supported the Gov. that created the 'Web page on petrol prices, to find the cheapest fuel around.' What a joke, 3 million dollars to set up and run to inform me, here on the Central Coast, that I could drive to Blacktown/Fairfield and other locations to fill up cheeply. By the time I got back home I would need more fuel than when I left. When God was handing out brains/common sense, Ministers and experts replied, 'no thanks we don't need them.' A mate and I had 2 Service Stns for a number of years and I still have contacts in the industry so I have some knowledge on what it behind this 'cycle.' Yes, the Federal Gov. takes a large slice in tax from petrol, alcohol and smokes. Then they give some of it back to you as 'cost of living relief hand-outs, sweeteners prior to elections etc'. However, what is handed out is no-where near what is collected. Loyalty is a major factor that the companies rely on. All petrol is the same, it is just added to by the various companies with their own 'additives' which they advertise. How many people remember the brand that 'put a tiger in your tank when you fill up.' Or the brand that had a British movie star, who was wearing a bra 10 sizes too small for her volumptuous chest receiving a run-down on the fantastic fuel that was being put into her car. The major additive to fuel is the colour additive, that is there to distinguish who owns the fuel and to help catch certain tanker drivers who would sell a 'hot load for cash' to a rival company. I know of several incidents where this happened and what happened to the dealers/tanker drivers. So, you think that you can't fight back, you can...a few years ago a small town in Victoria banded together and chose one service stn., the cheapest and everyone in the town bought their petrol from them. The other stations then lowered their prices to match however, the town didn't switch until one of the stns. went 10c/ltr lower than the rest. The town switched, and forced a mini price war between the stns. In the end all the stns. agreed to a set price, common to all and held it there. The price of fuel dropped nearly 80c in a month.
I have managed to find out that this 'cycle' is partly based on information collect from the Census. Companies have access to this data and they can see which areas have the most cars/per household, occupants who drive to work etc. What I have noticed on the Central Coast is that prices go up very quickly, come down slowly and the gap between this 'up movement' happens more frequently than the 'down movement.' So this makes the cheap cycle turn shorter before it rises. Not all Stations adhere to the 'cycle' they don't have to. The Company sets the minimum price, the stn. can then set what they want to make per litre. When I and my mate had our stations we were the lease/proprietors of the business, there were also stations that were 'privately owned/run' and they would deal directly with a company, when their contract would come close to running out and choose who they wanted to sign with. Nowadays the bulk of stations are owned by the company and run by either managers or the company may offer a lease agreement however, the company has more influence how the station is run. Sorry about the length however, a bit of clarity does help. I shop at the cheapest on offer, Shell, BP, Ampol and Mobil are quick to put their prices up and slow to take them down. I put 95 in my daily driver and fill it up with 98 when going on holidays, it runs better and is more ecconomical, and 98 in my classic car. I also note that a lot of stns. do not display their 95/98 prices and some stns. don't carry 95. I avoid them also.....Merry Christmas everyone...my comments are based in NSW. Just for interest I was selling 100 oct. at 48cents/gallon, bring back those days.

All these big companies are the same. Not worth tits on a bull.... Got out of NRMA as fast as I could yonks ago....

 

[IAN3005]

It's all of a fast for Petroleum companies and the government.. when we keep on buying the price goes. Wait for the increase of registration for electric cars.. something has to increase for road and structure taxes.

You bet...an electric car weighs much more than a petrol one....

 

[Towing]

Petrol prices always go up long weekends, especially Christmas. I'm sure Adelaide prices will increase again before Christmas Day. It is sitting at around the often normal price when this article was printed. It's more likely to be close to $2.00 per litre. If people know they are going to do long distance travelling some fill a jerry can.

 

[Baz1960]

Petrol prices always go up long weekends, especially Christmas. I'm sure Adelaide prices will increase again before Christmas Day. It is sitting at around the often normal price when this article was printed. It's more likely to be close to $2.00 per litre. If people know they are going to do long distance travelling some fill a jerry can.

Yes, so what is the collective of we/us doing? Nothing, so they continue to do the bullshit price cycling and gouging routines. The car driving fraternity won't pull together to contest and even better, stop all this.

 

[marni]

And yet here i sat outside optometrist in the morning and people were coming out of the bottle shop and tobacconist with so much stuff, which are not nessesities. Not only young ones either. Those who complain, where do you think all the money for pensions, public hospitals and bulk billing comes from? They need to get the money from somewhere and no one wants higher gst nor taxes.