By: Nick Tyrrell
ACT Senate candidate Nick Tyrrell has written to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission after its own data confirmed Canberra now has the highest average petrol and diesel prices of any capital city in Australia.
The ACCC’s Weekly Fuel Price Monitoring Report, published 11 September 2026, shows that on 9 September Canberra recorded the highest average retail petrol price of the eight capital cities monitored nationally, at 217.0 cents per litre, ahead of Darwin (215.0 cpl) and every other mainland capital.
Canberra also recorded the largest weekly increase in petrol prices of any capital city, and the highest average diesel price in the country, at 271.0 cents per litre, again with the biggest weekly jump nationally.
Mr Tyrrell said while politicians with fuel cards might not notice, most Canberra families are now struggling with yet another cost-of-living pain point.
“Canberra now pays more for fuel than Darwin. We’re not the most remote capital in the country. We’re three hours from Sydney on a major highway, sitting on the same supply chains as every other mainland city, and somehow this is the most expensive place in Australia to fill up a car,” said Mr Tyrrell.
“This isn’t a statistic for tradies, delivery drivers and small business owners who put fuel in the vehicle every single day, or for families already stretched by some of the highest costs of living in the country. Every extra cent per litre comes straight out of the weekly budget,” said Mr Tyrrell.
Mr Tyrrell has written to ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb, copied to Treasurer Jim Chalmers, asking the Commission to explain why Canberra’s retail margins are persistently elevated compared to every other capital, to publish an ongoing capital-city comparison tracking Canberra’s standing in future reports, and to outline what steps it is taking to improve competition in the ACT’s retail fuel market.
“Canberra’s own senator is the Finance Minister. If anyone should be pushing to find out why this city keeps paying more than the rest of the country, it’s her,” said Mr Tyrrell.
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