Arabic version: بار يلقي باللوم على ترامب مع تقدم التحقيق في أسعار الوقود في كانبيرا

According to ABC News, ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr says Canberrans should be “rightly angry” about high fuel prices, directing their anger first at United States President Donald Trump. Canberra is currently the most expensive capital city in Australia for motorists buying both petrol and diesel.

The ACT Legislative Assembly has supported an inquiry into the capital’s fuel prices. It will particularly examine why motorists in the ACT pay more than people just across the New South Wales border. Mr Barr said transport costs from Sydney, limited retail competition and reduced fuel sales as hybrid and electric vehicle use rises were among factors affecting prices.

Mr Barr said cars and trucks were more fuel efficient than they were 25 years ago, meaning the fixed infrastructure costs of petrol and diesel distribution were spread across fewer litres sold. He also pointed to international factors behind current fuel cost increases, describing the war he said Mr Trump had started as “pointless and unwinnable”.

Opposition leader Mark Parton, who initiated the call for the inquiry, said the chief minister was “deflecting”. The Canberra Liberals leader said Mr Trump did not explain the difference between ACT prices and prices in Queanbeyan, Jerrabomberra, Goulburn and Braidwood. Mr Parton rejected the lower-sales explanation and instead cited the territory’s high cost of doing business, calling the extra cost a “Canberra tax” for people filling up at the bowser.

Cost-of-living measures also featured in the assembly’s debate, where the ACT Greens sought a portable rental-bond scheme. A watered-down motion was supported, allowing the government to investigate whether such a scheme or another option could reduce renters’ financial burden. Attorney-General Tara Cheyne said the government accepted the issue was real but that implementation would be complex.