LET'S HAVE A 10% FUEL SURCHARGE AT ALL THE SUPERMARKETS BEFORE PRICES GO UP A LOT MORE THAN THAT

 

It's not speculation and not hypothetical. The monumental increase in the price of both petrol and diesel across Australia as a consequence of the Iran war, and more specifically, the virtual closure of the strait of Hormuz, the "gateway to Middle East oil", is going to result in significant increases in the cost of just about everything in any retail environment.

The only question remains is this - will the supermarkets be fair and only increase prices of goods exactly according to what precise increase in transporting costs they incur, or will they prey on the situation and in plain English rip consumers off? 

Truth is, the Albanese government can't wait or procrastinate at all to get that answer. It has to act decisively and "outside the box" to ensure that the latter does not come to pass.

ALBANESE and energy minister CHRIS BOWEN have already thrown a wet blanket over the Coalition's demand for the fuel excise to be "temporarily halved", which if it occurred, would obviously rein in fuel prices to the extent that it would largely nullify the prospect of hyperinflationary and predatory retail price hikes. 

So if Albanese ain't going to do that, then he has to strike in a much more direct way, lawfully and legislatively, to make certain that the supermarkets and all big retail simply can't jack prices up exponentially.

The best option to do that is for the Albanese government to IMMEDIATELY legislate a TEMPORARY 10% FUEL SURCHARGE (in law) which as of literally next week would be applied to ALL retail transactions at supermarkets, big and small, in Australia.

ALL supermarkets would be required (by law) to immediately freeze all shelf prices at their "standard ones", and not increase them by a single solitary cent, from the very day of this legislation's enactment, above the OFFICIAL RATE OF INFLATION, as set and announced by the Reserve Bank.

It would be up to the discretion of supermarkets, like it always has been, if and when they put certain products on special. 

The 10% fuel surcharge which they would charge for every transaction would go directly into a "government administered" emergency fund, and dispersed to the transport companies directly by Chris Bowen's department. 

It's by far the fairest idea for EVERYONE.

For Australian consumers, for supermarkets and for transport companies.