THE Rudd Government has walked away from its controversial FuelWatch scheme after it was defeated in the Senate, declaring it was not the "be-all and end-all" of moves to fight petrol prices.
But motoring groups immediately stepped up calls for the Government to push ahead with a revamped scheme to honour its promise to deliver price relief at the bowser.
Kevin Rudd campaigned heavily prior to the election on easing the cost-of-living pressures on working families and increasing competition in the petrol and grocery sectors.
Both FuelWatch and GroceryChoice - a similar scheme for monitoring supermarket prices - have drawn fire, with critics saying the initiatives did not put downward pressure on prices.