Bad news for Aussie drivers who will soon pay an extra 32 cents a litre for their fuel

By MATT JONES, SENIOR NEWS REPORTER, AUSTRALIA Published: 10:08, 13 June 2026 | Updated: 10:19, 13 June 2026 Aussie motorists will soon pay an extra 32 cents a litre for their fuel after the federal government confirmed it would end a cost-of-living policy. Energy Minister Chris Bowen said the halving of the fuel excise and return of the GST windfall would come to an end at the end of the month. 'We've been very clear, this was a temporary reduction in the excise that was always intended to be temporary,' he told reporters on Saturday. 'The Prime Minister and Treasurer have been clear, they will always examine the latest information, but our intention is for it to come off at the end of the month.' Australia's standard fuel excise is 52.6 cents per litre for petrol and diesel but was lowered to 20.6 cents a litre on April 1, due to the effects of the Iran war. It was always planned to go back to the original price at the end of the financial year, and despite the war in Iran showing no signs of ending, the government won't backflip on the promise. Peter Khoury, from the NRMA, told Daily Mail that Aussie motorists could expect unleaded petrol to be about $2 a litre from July 1, while diesel will jump back up to $2.50 a litre. 'We expected them to reintroduce it. They never intended to extend it. They did say that they would measure the situation closer to the deadline though,' Mr Khoury said. Aussies will soon feel the pinch when they go and fill up their car Energy Minister Chris Bowen said the halving of the fuel excise would come to an end at the end of the month The closure of the Strait of Hormuz in the Middle East has had the greatest impact on fuel prices in Australia since March The temporary fuel excise cut, followed by an additional 10.9 per cent rebate after the states and territories agreed to forgo windfall GST revenue, has cost the federal budget close to $3billion since April 1, which is money that won't be spent on roads in the future. Despite the predicted end of the fuel excise cut, it won't help Aussies living through a cost-of-living crisis.  The temporary halving of the excise also helped to lower headline inflation, which spiked to 4.6 per cent in March, before it dropped to 4.2 per cent. The Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 per cent of the world's energy is transferred, is currently operating under a restricted and contested 'partially open' state due to the ongoing conflict between the US and Iran. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz in March caused global oil prices to surge about 40 per cent higher than average. The price of oil has fallen of late, but Mr Khoury said Australian government policies weren't the solution to bringing fuel prices back to normal. 'We won't see meaningful relief until the war ends,' he said. Bowen took a shot at the opposition, saying they implemented 'scaremongering' tactics as Aussies worried about fuel supplies a few months ago. 'First they said there would be shortages around Easter and then a couple of weeks ago the shadow minister said there would be shortages in June,' Bowen said. Peter Khoury said Aussie motorists could expect unleaded petrol to be about $2 a litre from July 1, while diesel will jump back up to $2.50 Aussies were struggling with surging fuel prices in March before the cut was brought in 'We are now in June and we have record amounts of fuel in this country. While the government has been ensuring fuel supplies, the Liberals have been scaremongering but they have got basic facts wrong.' In April, when pressed on whether the government would extend the cut beyond June 30, Bowen remained tight-lipped. 'Let's see,' he told reporters at the time. 'We've said it'll be three months. Obviously, we'll see how we're going in three months.'  The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.