People are hurting. Australia is particularly vulnerable to sudden petrol price rises. Also, our cars are less fuel-efficient than theirs and public transport is poor in the outer suburbs where Australia's battlers live. But the best thing the Federal Government could do is come clean, warn the electorate to expect further increases and exhort those who can to get out of their cars for at least some trips. This is a wake-up call.
Most serious analysts expect fuel to get no cheaper in the long run.
All crises present opportunities, and this petrol pickle presents a chance to turn transport policies around in a land that for 50 years has spent disproportionate amounts on roads. The Government could earmark the extra excise it collects to give people better transport choices. The Germans have done it - in their case, deliberately increasing fuel prices to pay for public transport systems. In some European and American cities, extensive tollway systems are moving closer to the day when motorists will pay for every kilometre they drive. The latest increases present the Government with a second opportunity to begin to wean Australians off cheap petrol and into public transport.