11. Question No. 11—Commerce and Consumer AffairsBRETT HUDSON (National) to the Minister of Commerce and Consumer AffairsQuestion No. 11—Commerce and Consumer Affairs11. BRETT HUDSON (National) to the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs: How much relief in cents per litre will New Zealand motorists see if any as a result of the draft market study into the retail fuel sector and how does that compare to the increase in petrol taxes since the Government entered office?Hon KRIS FAAFOI (Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs): As the member pointed out in his question the study released this morning by the Commerce Commission is a draft study. It has made draft recommendations and the Commerce Commission will come back to us in December with its final report and its recommendations. The Government will wait for that before we make any policy decisions. Because of that I am unable to address the member with the precision I think he would like and therefore I cannot answer the second question in terms of a comparison. But what I can say is that the Government will act on this report because it is quite clear that New Zealanders are paying too much at the petrol pump.Brett Hudson: Did the report look at the impact of new and higher fuel taxes on consumers?Hon KRIS FAAFOI: It noted fuel taxes but if the Opposition is still interested in facts I would suggest that they look at pages 80 and 81 and look at the effect that fuel taxes have had over time. They have remained a relatively constant component of fuel prices but what it did show and it has highlighted is that margins for companies who sell fuel at petrol pumps have grown and grown considerably under the previous Government. We will not let that happen because that in English means that New Zealanders are paying too much for petrol every time they fill up their car.Brett Hudson: OK. Over the last 18 months how much have fuel taxes increased in Auckland compared to the retailer margin?Hon KRIS FAAFOI: I don't have that with me at this stage but what I do know is that in terms of competition—that was highlighted by the Commerce Commission in this morning's report—there isn't enough of it and because of that New Zealanders are paying too much at the petrol bowser. This was left to continue in an upward trend by the previous Government who did nothing for nine years. We have managed to get to this point where we have evidence that New Zealanders are getting fleeced and we will do something about it.Hon Dr Megan Woods: Does the draft report identify a year when those margins started rising?Hon KRIS FAAFOI: I believe it may have been roughly—coincidental I think perhaps—when the previous Government took office and then it went north while they were in office.Brett Hudson: What has more impact on consumers: a petrol company margin that has increased by 0.1 of 1c since the Government came into office or legislation for an additional 24c per litre of taxes?Hon KRIS FAAFOI: What I find interesting is that on the day that the Commerce Commission has found that there are competition issues and that petrol companies are charging too high a margin to New Zealanders the Opposition is taking their side and thinks that New Zealanders paying too much at the petrol bowser is a good thing.Brett Hudson: Does he agree with the Commerce Commission that there is no guarantee that a competitive market will develop rapidly if the barriers they identified are removed?Hon KRIS FAAFOI: What I would say to that is this Government is going to do something about the competition issues addressed by the Commerce Commission because we believe that customers are getting ripped off at the petrol bowser. That is more than the previous Government did in nine years.