Australia: Facebook event gets 160,000 Aussies to boycott gas stations

Increasing fuel prices have triggered a mass protest across the country with a two-day boycott taking place.

A two-day boycott of gas stations in response to increasing prices has begun, with tens of thousands of Australians expected to take part, according to a Facebook event.

Some 160,000 Aussies have pledged to boycott service stations during two days. Many shared photos of ghost town-like sites with no cars waiting to fuel up. A huge online campaign is responsible for the boycott as Australians complain about fuel prices soaring above $1.70 a litre.

“It’s time to rise up against the petroleum industry and make a stand. On the 26th of October let’s join together in an Australian wide fuel strike,” the Facebook event explained.

A weak Australian dollar and higher global oil prices have left petrol prices in some part of Australia on a 10-year high.

Mark McKenzie, chief executive of service station peak body the Australasian Convenience and Petroleum Marketers Association (ACAPMA), believes campaigners, who set $1.15 as a fair price, are getting their maths wrong, according to news.com.au.

“I think what’s happened is someone’s done the sums around the oil price, the exchange rate and added the tax,” he said. “The problem is we don’t put oil in our cars, we put petrol. They’ve missed the refinery costs, we’ve also got to ship it (from Singapore), transport it to the site and retail it.”