The federal government's new petrol commissioner says he has his sights set on "significant savings" for motorists but warns motorists not to expect to see 20 cents suddenly shaved off bowser prices.
Patrick Walker, the architect of Western Australia's unique Fuelwatch service, was named the Rudd government's choice for the new commissioner's role it promised to establish if Labor won office.
The full-time commissioner will predominantly be responsible for overseeing the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's (ACCC's) monitoring of the fuel prices in Australia as well providing an annual report on the ACCC's findings, Mr Bowen said.
He also will have the job of investigating price gouging and collusion.
Mr Walker said that for every one cent a litre increase in the price of unleaded petrol in Australia, an extra $160 million flowed out of motorists' pockets and into the hands of the petrol industry.
But when pressed on the savings that the increased scrutiny of a petrol commissioner could provide, Mr Walker was less emphatic.
He said savings of 15 to 20 cents per litre were "completely unrealistic".
"What we can do, however, is try to set up a system where we will see Australia become as competitive as we can be," Mr Walker told reporters in Sydney.
"I'd be disappointed if we didn't get some significant savings. They won't be of that magnitude but they will be significant.
"In WA, for example, we've now managed to turn Perth around from being one of the dearest capital cities for unleaded petrol in the country to the cheapest.
"I think a large factor of that was the transparency that was brought to bear, so that people are aware of the prices at petrol pumps each day."
Mr Walker has been WA's consumer affairs and prices commissioner and for seven years had an oversight role in WA's fuel market.
The WA government's Fuelwatch service provides daily fuel price updates for motorists, while the state's service stations are required to provide advance notice of their next-day prices.
They also cannot vary their prices throughout the day, meaning WA motorists are given daily updates on where they can find the cheapest fuel and - unlike motorists in other states - they are also free from intra-day price fluctuations.
Mr Walker said his nomination as petrol commissioner did not signal an automatic roll-out of Fuelwatch nationwide, but he would investigate its broader application.
