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Old April 19th 06, 12:21 PM posted to aus.bicycle
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Default Control petrol prices

Sick of paying a fortune for petrol? There is a SIMPLE solution. Oil
companies and petrol suppliers are colluding to form a monopoly. To
fight back, all that consumers need to do is to act as one.

The following information holds the key to never paying more than 80
cents per litre for petrol in Australia.

This information was published more than 6 months ago but Australian
consumers appear to be happy to pay more than $1.30 per litre because
nobody has bothered to spread the word.

If you send this to 10 people and those 10 send it to 10 people and so
on, then it will only take about a week to spread the word to every
Australian with an email address. Then it should only take about
another 2 to 3 weeks of everybody using their collective consumer power
when buying petrol and we won't have to pay more than 80 cents per
litre for fuel, EVER!

Australian consumers are being played for suckers by the oil companies
and their good buddies - the politicians.

--------------------snip---------------------------

HOW CONSUMERS CONTROL THE PRICE OF PETROL

THE SHORT ANSWER

If people simply stopped purchasing any petrol whatsoever from a single
leading oil company until the price drops to 80 cents per litre, the
price of petrol would drop to that amount in about two to three weeks.

This really works, it has worked in the past and will work every time.
Whenever the price of petrol rises above 80 cents per litre, if
everyone stopped buying from a single chosen leading supplier and ONLY
started buying from them again when the price drops below 80 cents per
litre - the price will stay below 80 cents per litre. But EVERYONE
must do it, no exceptions. It would require people buying petrol from
anyone except the chosen oil company.

The only way Australian consumers could make this work is to all
participate. This means that every Australian needs to know about
this. To achieve this, everybody needs to spread the word to everyone
they know. Spread the word. The sooner all Australians know how to
use their combined purchasing power the sooner consumers will control
the price of petrol.


HOW IT WORKS

For those who are sceptical or just curious, this is how it works.
It's a simple case of economics.

Before starting, everyone needs to know that the Australian Government
employs economists and contracts the services of economic consultancy
firms that will always toe the government line. So these economists
will say that this strategy won't work because the government doesn't
want Australian consumers to control the price of petrol. The
government doesn't want the price of petrol to drop because when
consumers pay 50 cents more for petrol, the government gets an extra 5
cents GST for every litre sold. This means that the government
actively supports the oil companies when they dictate the higher prices
Australians pay for petrol. The fact remains, however, that when
consumers use their collective purchasing power, consumers will control
prices - this is a fundamental economic reality.

I have been told that this information has been sent to peak motoring
bodies and the media and they won't publish it because they get their
kickbacks from the oil companies too.

The government wants the price of petrol to continually increase, so
they allow (support) the oil companies to collude.

Everyone knows that oil companies in Australia work together to fix
prices and the government supports it. The problem is proving it when
the government supports it. The collusion enables the multiple oil
companies to act as one, just like a monopoly where any price can be
charged and the consumer will be FORCED to pay as they have NO CHOICE.
This means that the supplier controls the price rather than normal
market forces (supply and demand).

The way around the situation is for consumers to break the oil company
alliance (virtual monopoly) and force them to compete. This is easily
achieved by getting the market leaders to compete "head to head" for
sales. If ONE of the leading oil companies suffers a dramatic
reduction in sales, then that company will suffer a backup in
production and massive losses in revenue. Therefore, supply of petrol
will be greater than the demand. The only way for the oil company to
restore a balance to this over-supply (and loss of revenue) is to
reduce the price to a point where demand will equal the supply. Quite
simply, if all Australians stopped buying petrol from ONE market leader
until the price drops to 80 cents per litre before buying from that
company, then 80 cents per litre will become the market price as every
other supplier would need to charge that amount to sell their petrol.

In a free and competitive market, consumers set the price of goods as
demand will lower as prices increase. When a price rises too high,
then people will be less likely to purchase from that supplier. This
will not occur where there is only once supplier (a monopoly) or when
multiple suppliers act as one through collusion. Unfortunately, we all
need petrol and the oil companies collude to form a virtual monopoly.
In a country like Australia where we all have to travel great distances
to get anywhere, the oil companies can exert a greater power over the
consumer. Unlike Europe where you can drive through 3 countries in one
day, our 1 country takes more than 3 days to cross. We all need petrol
in Australia and lots of it. This means that through their collusion,
the greedy oil companies are successfully exploiting Australian
consumers.

Now, if everyone stopped buying petrol, the price would drop. But as
stated, we all need petrol. This leaves the consumer with only one
alternative. Consumers must stop buying petrol from ONE (ONLY ONE) of
the market leaders. If consumers stopped buying petrol from a minor
player in the market, then the impact would not be great enough to
cause a shift in the price. It would only force the minor player out
of the market. It is, therefore, essential to stop buying petrol from
a market leader until the price drops to 80 cents. Once that market
leader lowers the price to 80 cents then everyone can resume buying
from that oil company. This then sets the price for all other players
in the market. The minute they raise the price above 80 cents then
EVERY consumer must immediately stop buying from that oil company until
the price again drops to 80 cents.

So, from which market leader should Australians stop purchasing petrol?
Firstly, there are only a few market leaders in Australia from which
to choose so the alternatives are limited. The chosen market leader
must be large enough to impact the entire market when the oil giant is
forced to lower the price of petrol in order to have demand equal
supply and regain revenue. Secondly, It would be wise to stop buying
from a market leader that other big businesses relying on to attract
consumers to their business. The big businesses that co-locate with
petrol stations include McDonalds and other high profile retailers. By
targeting an oil company that have big businesses co-located with their
service stations, the loss of customers will also impact those other
major companies. Those big businesses will then pressure the targeted
oil company to lower the petrol prices to bring consumers back to their
businesses. This will result in greater pressure than just reduced
petrol sales to be applied to the targeted oil company.

Oil companies are working hard to get all Australians used to paying a
lot more than $1.30 per litre for petrol. The government and the media
are also working hard together telling us all to get used to paying
more than $1.30 per litre. They are all in league with the oil
companies to break the Australian consumer's resistance to paying
higher petrol prices. Even the government's economists are continually
telling us to get ready to pay more than $1.50 per litre. Once
consumers become used to paying that price, the oil companies and
government will again work together to ratchet up the price even
further. It makes you wonder if Australian consumers will ever wake up
to what is being done to them.

The only way to stop the oil companies from colluding and forcing
Australian consumers to pay more than the true market value is to get
consumers to join together. By using COLLECTIVE purchasing power,
consumers will set the price paid for petrol.

This is the way it should be, ask any economist. MARKET FORCES
DETERMINE PRICE IN A "COMPETITIVE" MARKET. Suppliers can only set
prices when a government permits a non-competitive market environment
to exist. The mere fact that oil companies set the price in Australia
is PROOF that natural market forces have failed through the government
allowing oil companies to collude.

In the United States they pay approximately 55 - 60 cents per litre for
unleaded petrol and there is absolutely no reason for Australians to
pay any more than the Australian dollar equivalent. This means
Australians should not be paying more than 80 cents per litre.

Oil companies are are skimming an extra 30 to 50 cents off Australian
consumers. The only reason they do this is because the Australian
government allows it and consumers don't resist it.

SPREAD THE WORD - EVERY AUSTRALIAN CONSUMER WILL NEED TO USE THEIR
PURCHASING POWER IF THEY WANT TO BREAK THE OIL COMPANIES' CONTROL OVER
PETROL PRICES!

------------------snip------------------

ALL CONSUMERS NEED DO IS PICK THE APPROPRIATE LEADING OIL COMPANY.

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