00:02Cojanup farmer Gordon Coleman is seeding in two weeks and growing concerned about access to fuel.
00:08The possibility of not getting fuel is on a whole other level.
00:13That's disaster levels. If you don't get your canola on the ground by a certain date, you just don't plant
00:17it.
00:18Facing restrictions after a call to his supplier.
00:21We had a 2,000 litre limit per farmer from my supplier,
00:24which immediately we have something up our sleeve now to get started in seeding,
00:29but it immediately makes you feel like you should be locking in even the 2,000 litres
00:34because they can't even commit to giving us that fuel in three weeks' time.
00:39WA farmers say panic buying in the city is impacting regional areas.
00:44We're seeing price fluctuations in the city and it's even coming back to a reasonable price,
00:47but that's not being passed on the regions.
00:49The independent distributors are still paying full whack for their fuel
00:53and they're having to pass that on to the regional people who already use more fuel
00:58because they've got further travel and more to do with it.
01:00While Consumer Protection says hoarding fuel in Perth is unnecessary.
01:04There's consequences for all of our actions and so if we are hoarding fuel,
01:09it means someone else can't get it and that might come back and bite us later on in the future.
01:14But Mr Coleman argues farmers are not panic buying.
01:17It's necessity. If you're not trying to get fuel right now when we're being told there isn't,
01:22you can't get the tractor in the paddock and start putting your crop in.
01:24Drivers urge to shop around.
01:27But where there is choice and you as the consumer vote with your feet,
01:31you are responsible for keeping that downward pressure on prices.
01:35You achieve that by where you spend your dollars.
01:39While the state government won't rule out intervening with measures like price caps,
01:43motorists are encouraged to behave normally at the Bowser.
01:46What we are really focused on is ensuring that we engage in monitoring
01:51the difference between wholesale and retail price.
01:53We encourage people to go to Fuel Watch which has proven successful.
01:57The state government is confident there are no issues with overall fuel supply
02:02and says discussions with key stakeholders will ensure informed decisions can be made.
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