Suppliers increase charges up to 25 per cent for Derby businesses due to fuel price hike amid Iran conflict

The soaring cost of fuel is starting to have knock-on effects in the Kimberley, with local businesses suffering an increase in charges from suppliers of anywhere between 5 and 25 per cent, amid the Iran conflict. According to the Derby Chamber of Commerce and Industry, major food suppliers, contractors and services throughout town have been informed of the drastic increase due to the “critical situation in the Middle East”. It comes as the Spinifex Hotel and Boab Inn introduced a temporary 5 per cent surcharge to offset the exorbitant costs. At the Spinifex Hotel, the surcharge is currently only affecting bottle-shop, bar and food sales, while room bookings remained exempt. The price of diesel nearly hit the $3 mark in Derby on March 19, rising to $2.989 per litre at the local BP service station on Loch Street, an increase of 49c from March 12 and 81c per litre since the start of the Iran conflict on February 28. The supplier price increase has made the cost of drinking a pint of the popular Great Northern Super Crisp at the Derby Boab Inn — one of the town’s main watering holes — increase from $13.50 to $14.18, with locals taking to social media to lament the price rise. Chamber president Brett Angwin said he had been informed by many major businesses throughout town of the supplier costs increase and the Chamber would be working closely with the State Government concerning any potential price gouging. He also said the price of fuel in Derby had become “astronomical”. “Our whole town is very fuel reliant, be it vehicle transport, back-up diesel generators for electricity and all those sorts of things,” Mr Angwin said. “With everything that comes in via transport, it is certainly going to have a knock-on effect, there’s no doubt about it.” Mr Angwin also pointed out the detrimental effect the high price of fuel could also have on tourism in the remote Kimberley town. “We will be monitoring closely to see what the numbers are coming through town compared to last year where we had a good tourist season and whether that does correlate to the increase in the price of fuel,” he said. “There does seem to be a little bit of that at this point of time (with) some cancelations through accommodation venues in town, but it may be too early to tell if it’s attributed to the current situation, but you would have to say it has some correlation.” The Kimberley was the site of the highest price for diesel in WA in March so far, according to FuelWatch data, with the price peaking at $3.11 per litre at the Kununurra IOR on March 17.