Petrol tax 'pure revenue raising' and hits Canberrans hardest, says NRMA boss

Mr Evans said the tax would deliver more pain for motorists who already had to deal with constantly high petrol prices and a lack of competition.

He said there was an assumption ACT motorists would simply pay without complaint.

"This is a perfect example of pure revenue raising and we're not happy about it, especially as the government will take $15 billion from motorists and only put $3 billion back into our roads," he said.

"The government thinks that because Canberran wages are higher than those in other cities they can hit us harder and we won't complain as much."

The Australian Institute for Petroleum says the average petrol price in Canberra remained stable at 157.3¢ a litre last week despite prices falling between 8.3¢ and 10.1¢ a litre in Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne.

Average petrol prices in the week to Sunday, May 26:

It is now 12.6¢ a litre more expensive to refuel in Canberra than in Sydney where the average price of petrol is 145.8¢, AIP figures show.

Mr Evans, who is the NRMA's director for the NSW south coast and the ACT, said Canberra's already high petrol prices could be explained by a lack of independent sellers and competition in the territory.

"There are only two to three independent petrol stations in Canberra and they alone are not going to impact the average cost of petrol prices in Canberra," he said.

"Someday, someone might wake up and say ‘we really do need to have some competition in this place.'

"That's our big problem – a lack of competition."

Mr Evans said NRMA research showed independent sellers created competition, and that was what brought about cheaper petrol prices.

"The owners of petrol chains in Canberra are very willing to compete on grocery prices but leave their fuel prices as almost identical, which means the motorists suffer."

He rejected the notion that a petrol tax would encourage people to consider more environmentally friendly modes of transport.

"We're a car-centric city," he said. "A lot of people are saying this might encourage people to rely less on cars, but you try getting your kids across town for sport on the weekend without a car."

Australian National University researcher Paul Burke said the petrol tax made sense as a source of government revenue and could address Australia's poor fuel efficiency rates.

"The re-indexing of fuel excise to the consumer price index just means the excise will stay the same in real terms," Dr Burke said.

"What was a shrinking tax rate will now be a stable tax rate.

"The change makes sense, as a good source of revenue would otherwise continue to erode away over time."