rudd says he hears petrol message, page-11

Niaroo, speculators are part of the market force, a decent percentage of the inflated price is speculation.

GST is charged on the retail price which includes the excise--- a bone of contention which the Howard and now Rudd government refuse to address.

Price may look like this:

wholesale price 50c
retail margin 5c
govt excise 45c
total: 100c
GST 10% 10c
Price at pump 110c

Obviously, the higher the excise (which is levied as a percentage), the higher the cost of petrol, and therefore the higher the GST

A tax on a tax.