26 March 2001 Media Statement

Petrol companies doing better

Rare praise for the oil companies from the Deputy Prime Minister…

Jim Anderton says competitive activity in the retail petrol market in recent weeks is welcome.

"The competition we have seen lately has seen petrol companies undercutting each other and the consumer has been the winner.

"A year ago, every petrol retailer seemed to be required to increase their prices by exactly the same amount at exactly the same time. Now, petrol prices seem to be moving more independently and we are even seeing different brands of petrol sold in the same street at different prices."

It's not all good news however. As Minister for Regional Development Jim Anderton says there is still far too much unexplained regional variation in petrol prices.

"Why is it that petrol in Kaitaia costs six cents a litre more than it costs in Auckland, when both are the same distance from the Whangarei refinery?

"Why is petrol much cheaper in areas where a Gull station operates, and why does competition from a small independent retailer force prices down by more than competititon among the majors?"

ENDS

© Scoop Media

Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>