Maitland motorists have been hit with a massive petrol price rise on the eve of a long weekend, when many people were looking to hit the road with their family or friends.
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The Mercury believes motorists in this city have been treated unfairly, after enjoying several weeks of low prices – little more than 90c/l.
On several occasions, according to fuel price data, Maitland had bucked the trend and recorded average petrol prices far cheaper than down the highway in Newcastle.
But, seemingly overnight, last week, unleaded petrol prices jumped about 30c/l across Maitland and have remained around 122c/l since then.
NRMA president Kyle Loades told the Mercury he believed some outlets had taken advantage of the fact that Anzac Day, a national public holiday, was held on Monday.
He said there was no justification for the price increase.
It seems like a no-brainer for petrol station operators to try and make more money by lifting prices when motorists are planning to travel for the long weekend, and will buy petrol at any cost.
But that’s an unfair result for consumers who unexpectedly have to fork out more money for their weekend away.
The mayor of Maitland, Cr Peter Blackmore, made a worthwhile point in today’s report on page three that reinforced the idea that the price hike is unfair.
Cr Blackmore, who owned a service station at Rutherford for almost two decades, said the petrol motorists were buying on the long weekend would have already been on site at the various petrol stations across Maitland days earlier, when prices were lower.
So it’s not like service station operators were passing on a cost increase from their suppliers – it was likely a mark-up of a product already in stock that had been sold much cheaper only a day earlier.
Maitland plummeted down the state’s petrol price rankings last week, from first to 46th out of 53 locations, with an average price of 126.9c/l last week.
Prices in Hexham and Sandgate, not far down the highway, have been around 101c/l in recent days but it remains to be seen if and when prices in Maitland will drop. In the meantime, consumers should make an effort to buy petrol from service stations that have reasonable prices.