The Thinking Man's Fridge

"There's no such thing as stupid ideas, only stupid people" (Anon.)

If Brendan Nelson’s haircut wasn’t enough of an indication that he was living in the 90s, his gallant claim that the Liberals would save everyone the heartache of inflated living costs by cutting 5 cents per litre off petrol should surely ring some alarm bells.

I’m going to make the bold assertion that Nelson hasn’t filled a car with petrol in quite some time. He was elected to Federal Parliament in 1996, at which time I can only assume he embarked on his lifetime journey of tax-payer funded cars and fuel cards. Even before that, he was the Federal President of the AMA, after three years as Vice-President (positions which I would certainly presume had similar tax-payer funded entitlements).

I’ll put it to you simply, Mr Nelson. The other day I put $60 of petrol in my car. I used my docket which cut 4 cents per litre off the final bill (another consumerist rort), saving me a whopping $1.62. Going by a 5 cent reduction, my saving would have been $2.02. Do you REALLY think you’re going to ease the incredible financial burdens on families by saving them $2.02 on their weekly tank of fuel? How the hell will a 5 cent reduction make an impact when some petrol stations vary their petrol prices by up to 12 cents between a Tuesday and a Friday?

Worse still, this frivolous token gesture is set to ‘cost’ the Government millions (and I argue the Government’s use of the term ‘cost’ here). I’d rather those millions of dollars were used for something productive, like a cheese factory.

Mr Nelson, if this is the best you can come up with, please sit down and let someone else have a go.