A can of petrol might not be the Christmas present most Australians were envisaging this festive season.
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Yet it might just be the thing many Australians most need if the pundits are right.
Just a few weeks ago, around the long weekend, we saw a rise in petrol prices.
They have stayed high and the NRMA is tipping the average price for regular unleaded could soon be $1.68. That’s the “average price”.
Many people are already seeing prices above that now.
Rebecca Page of the NRMA said Wollongong was still behind Sydney prices, but predicted we would catch up.
“As far as we can forecast it is going to keep rising before Christmas so unfortunately we have to do what we can in shopping around, in looking for cheaper prices and driving past those expensive price boards,” ms Page told the Illawarra Mercury.
“If we’re expecting in the next month to hit around 168 [cents] and we continue to follow those trends it’s not looking too good for Christmas.”
For families at this time of news, that is horrendous news.
And as much as our Federal Government wants to rave about the state of the economy and tax cuts, the average Australian would counter with power and petrol prices.
It’s the classic “giveth in one hand and taketh with the other”.
There is little the average consumer can do in this circumstance other than shop around and fill up now.
For many families, filling up the family vehicle or vehicles is the biggest weekly expense they face.
The NRMA and NSW Government have fuel apps where you can search for the cheapest prices, but that is often not practical or convenient.
The worst thing is the NRMA is predicting there is “no relief in sight”.
We can only hope that instead of a lump of coal under the Christmas tree, Santa leaves us a tinnie of petrol instead.
