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##""Macquarie selling and also the chief proponents of the 'no gas shortage' advocates. Almost no-one else agrees with their sentiment on East Coast gas, everyone else sees a shortage and continuing high prices. ""##

Dear oh me my friend, if you remember, there was some politicians many years ago, one in particular in being the member for New England at the time (none other than Ian Sinclair who I know/knew personally very well), which was saying the same thing about shortage of oil and that we had to put a tax on it in order to force a reduction in consumption and make it last longer. In the way we were going at the time, it was believed that in 20 years we were to run out of oil and that we had to do something urgently to stop this catastrophe. A TAX WAS OF COURSE the only and viable answer/solution. Yet today we have an oversupply of oil even flooding the market.

And the high prices. like you just wrote, are of course forced upon us by both sides of our Governments were they are forcing upon us a tax on a tax which of course none of the two parties are willing to rectify although totally unconstitutional.

Oh those politicians....the things and invented excuses they will come out with when they want to bring a new tax in while keeping their noses in the taxpayer funded throughs. And now they even reinstated the quarterly or six monthly cpi increases of the tax levies so that they screw us a little more.

We now have another blinder of idea that we have to pay a 10 cents tax for any cans/bottles used by us where they say that we can recover that money in the recycling depots................BUT...........yes there is a big and unanswered BUT.........and now here is a good one. I have heard the other day (And I believe that it was in the local rag too), that a person had to drive close to 90 km one way to cash his saved bottles and cans, only to find out that what he collected for his cans and bottles barely covered the costs to drive his car there and back.................GO FIGURE!!!

Is then a method in someone's madness.?? Of course there is but it is only in the Government side of things.

So, and based on your comments, it now appears that two major investors in the industry are not of the beliefs that there is going to be a gas shortage. Who do I believe now.???

Well, if I have to have my two bob's worth, I believe more on these multibillion dollars entities simply because they could have their finger on the pulse more than anyone else.

And the continuing high prices will remain as long as the Governments of both sides of the equation will continue to have their fingers in the pie.

In closing, how many ACCC investigations in regards to the fuel prices at the bowser did we have in the past and how many times did the ACCC came out with something in favour of the consumer in that regard.??

One thing is for sure here. If there is going to be a reduction in the prices of fuels and gas, there is going to be a reduction in the Government's revenues........ and that is never going to happen..................Period!!!!!

I will now rest my case my friend.