Sack petrol commissioner, Xenophon says

Independent senator Nick Xenophon is calling for Australia's petrol commissioner to be sacked over a report that says motorists are being gouged by supermarkets and fuel companies.

An analysis by the Australian Automobile Association (AAA) shows motorists have been short-changed by shopper docket discounts offered by Coles and Woolworths.

The analysis says Coles and Woolworths were raising their prices to cover the eight cents a litre "double discount" offer during the summer.

Taxpayers would be better off if peak motoring bodies monitored fuel prices, instead of the office of the petrol commissioner, Senator Xenophon said.

"The $330,000 a year the Petrol Commissioner Joe Dimasi earns and the $1 million it costs to run his office could be much better spent on peak motoring bodies doing the monitoring," he said in a statement on Monday.

"The petrol commissioner experiment has failed and it's time to disband it."

Senator Xenophon said the creation of the petrol commissioner appeared to be an exercise in political "window-dressing".

"The petrol commissioner's office has proven to be in the last four years a waste of time, a waste of money and a waste of space," he told reporters in Canberra.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) should investigate the AAA's findings and if necessary prosecute Coles and Woolworths, Senator Xenophon said.

The ACCC would fine any other major retailer if it raised its prices before embarking on a discounting campaign.

Senator Xenophon said he would write to the government about the issue and raise it during a Senate estimates hearing in parliament this week.

• Find a personal loan
• Find a credit card
• Find a home loan
• Find a savings account