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Record-high petrol prices see Australian companies add fuel charges
The State Government is establishing a Taskforce to examine the state's shipping industry and supply chains that link Western Australia with the east coast and international customers.
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The taskforce comes in response to the recent significant disruption to the supply chain into WA, a result of the east-west rail link being closed for 24 days due to unprecedented flooding.
The impact of the disruption, which is still being felt on WA supermarket shelves, raises questions about what else can be done to strengthen the State's supply chain.
In addition, severe weather events in the north-west have also caused significant disruption and costs to the community, which means now is the time to explore all options in securing freight and supply chains.
The taskforce will examine: • the role intrastate and interstate shipping can play as an ancillary route for freight movements in the event of natural disasters and disruptions to other supply chains; • potential support for a national approach to the agile use of interstate shipping to strengthen critical supply chains; • the sustainability and resilience of
WA's on-water maritime labour force, including any emerging skill gaps, training requirements or critical worker shortages; • opportunities to develop multi-modal responsiveness towards disruptions in vital WA freight supply chains; and • opportunities to improve supply chain co-ordination and service quality at WA ports.
The taskforce will be chaired by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Transport and Ports Jessica Stojkovski MLA, and the Hon. Kyle McGinn MLC.
Engagement will be undertaken with the shipping and transport industry, customers, port authorities, unions and the broader community.
The taskforce will identify and recommend implementable options to improve shipping industry utility and will report back to Cabinet by March 31, 2023.
The ability to deliver these outcomes will be reliant on assistance and coordination with the Federal Government.
Transport and Ports Minister Rita Saffioti said, "We saw firsthand the disruption to our supply chains the oncein-a-200-year flooding in South Australia caused when it washed away parts of the Trans-Australia railway. "We see this as a national issue, and we are keen to work with any Federal Government willing to help us to better strengthen our east-west supply links. "It's important we examine other supply chain options in the event of future natural disasters and disruptions - having better access to a local shipping fleet would be one option to future-proof our freight supply chain. "The taskforce will speak with the shipping industry, customers, port authorities, unions and the broader community, and I look forward to receiving the report early next year."
Record-high petrol prices see Australian companies add fuel surcharges
Australians are paying more for Ubers and postage as record-high petrol prices prompt big businesses to slug consumers with painful new fuel surcharges.
A run of rapidly rising petrol prices has worsened with the war in Ukraine, sending average rates on mid-march to well over $2.10 a litre across major capital cities.
And it has pushed Australia Post and rideshare firms Uber and DiDi to impose fuel surcharges on consumers. What’s more, the most recent increases in global oil prices have yet to flow through to
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Australian bowsers, with CommSec senior economist Ryan Felsman saying prices may hit $2.50 a litre.
Companies impose fuel surcharges
In response to the surging cost of petrol, Uber said it would introduce a 60-day surcharge on Australian rides, equalling about 6 cents per kilometre.
It said this meant the average trip would now cost about 50 cents more. “We’ve heard from driver-partner feedback that the recent sudden spike in petrol prices is having an impact,’ Uber Australia’s Emma Foley said in a statement.
DiDi soon followed suit, confirming to The New Daily on Monday it is also introducing a 6-cent-per-kilometre fuel surcharge for 60 days. The surcharge will come into effect on March 21, DiDi said.
It comes after Australia Post imposed a record 3.1% fuel surcharge on its services for April — up from 2.3% in March — on the back of higher petrol prices.
Even Australia’s largest businesses are feeling the pinch, including food canning giant SPC, which told the AFR on Monday that its prices will go up 10 to 20% on the back of higher input costs including petrol.
That news comes after earlier warnings from grocery suppliers and the big supermarket bosses that their prices will rise substantially in 2022.
It all points to higher headline inflation over the next six months amid speculation about when the Reserve Bank will raise interest rates from a record-low 0.1%. This article was first published by The New Daily.
TREVOR MURLEY, LEWIS BEDFORD, & ROBERT TAYLOR - BOORABBIN MEMORIAL
HELP NEEDED
By Carol Messenger
15 years on we need your help.
We need your help in watering the tree/trees that surround the memorial for the three truckies that died in the Boorabbin bushfires.
The area is a dry desolate place and whilst many of us give the triple toot as we go past, the families are asking if from time to time, we could take a few minutes to stop and water the tree. With a bit of TLC this tree could grow big and strong and provide some beautiful shade.
It's not much to ask to remember these blokes.
December 30th 2007 was a black day for the Transport Industry in Western Australia.
The weather was hot, there were raging winds and in the Goldfields region there were blazing bushfires that had closed the roads to all traffic for three days.
Trucks had been held at Southern Cross and Kalgoorlie as it was deemed too dangerous to proceed.
But then at 7.45 on that fateful day, a DEC led incident management team re-opened the highway, and allowed vehicles to travel east from Southern Cross despite weather forecasts of a wind
Photographs by
Derek Graham / Michael Kuilboer
change that would push the blaze into their path.
Just an hour into their journey, a sudden wind change brought the fire back across the highway and trapped those that were unable to turn around. With no support and no way of escape, Lewis Bedford, Robert Taylor and Trevor Murley died in their trucks.
A short time after the fire, a memorial with three white crosses was erected close to the point where the men perished.
It is a lovely memorial, and we are just asking truckies to take five minutes now and again to water the tree and pay their respects.
THE MEMORIAL
A shelter, monument and garden commemorate three truck drivers who perished in the Boorabbin bushfire of 2007. Located in the Boorabbin National Park about 100 kilometres east of Southern Cross, the memorial is a short walk from a truck bay on the southern side of Great Eastern Highway.
Truck drivers Trevor Murley, Lewis Bedford, and Robert Taylor perished as they drove into the path of a bushfire on Great Eastern highway on 30 December 2007 after being allowed through a roadblock. Shortly after the fire, three white crosses were erected by the highway at the point where the men died. Three years later, the Department of Environment and Conservation, in consultation with the families of the three men built a permanent memorial consisting of a granite monument and an information shelter. Behind the original white crosses on the highway, three permanent bronze plaques have been placed.
