Obscure Box

Fuel price watchdogs and motoring bodies have been arguing that increased competition - not regulation - is the best way to keep prices down for motorists.

Hence their puzzlement at the Rudd Government's introduction of a national FuelWatch scheme. (I've written about this for The Courier-Mail newspaper.)

The government has argued that the new regulation on setting prices - to be handled by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission - will see savings for motorists.

So then comes the supermarket argument.

Federal Treasurer Chris Bowen's reported on the ABC's website, in "Govt opens door to foreign supermarket giants" (Wednesday 23 April 2008), as saying: "Generally more competition is the way to put downward pressure on prices."

Odd that.