13747 (2026). Scott Willis to the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs

13747 (2026). Scott Willis to the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs: What indicators or thresholds, if any, will the Commerce Commission use to determine whether fuel pricing behaviour warrants intervention?

Cameron Brewer: The Commission is monitoring and looking for any pricing behaviour that indicates that prices may be higher than is warranted based on underlying costs. Some of the indicators that they review to indicate if any specific pricing behaviour is of concern include relative price changes at specific fuel sites, by brand, and in certain local markets. Where the Commission identifies any pricing that is outside the expected distribution, it will raise this with fuel companies and call out any behaviour of concern publicly. The Fuel Industry Act 2020 also provides an avenue for the price regulation of daily spot prices posted by importers of fuel (terminal gate prices), if the Commission is satisfied that the terminal gate prices are set above what would be expected in a competitive market, and if the Minister for Energy agrees. From a fair trading perspective, the Commission will intervene if it appears that a business’s pricing behaviour is likely to have misled consumers or appears to have breached other provisions of the Fair Trading Act 1986. From a competition perspective, the Commission can intervene for breaches under the Commerce Act 1986, including where there is evidence of an abuse of market power or an agreement to coordinate or fix prices. In deciding what action to take, the Commission is guided by its published Enforcement Response Guidelines.