Still using gas? Your bills could be heading higher

A potential increase in gas bills, a new tax on Fiji holidays and slower, more expensive mail are among the changes affecting Australians this week. Here are five money stories you may have missed this week.

1. Why staying connected to gas could cost you more

Gas companies may have to increase prices more than expected to prevent a spiral of high, volatile prices and shrinking customer numbers in the future, according to a key energy market regulator.

The Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) says the nation's gas networks face an uncertain outlook, as demand for their product falls while upkeep costs remain stubborn.

The AEMC, which makes the rules governing retail energy markets in most parts of the country, says thousands of Australians are switching from gas to electricity.

This is leading to retailers and distributors relying on a shrinking number of household and business customers to help cover the costs of looking after expensive distribution networks.

The AEMC says this could lead to a situation where a small number of customers are hit with skyrocketing bills, pushing more of them to cancel their gas contracts, causing the remaining customers to be lumped with even higher network fees.

The body is proposing to force gas companies to look further ahead in their business planning to consider the long term impacts of more customers leaving and basing new spending on forecasted demand, not current consumption.

It says gas companies may have to increase costs "modestly" for customers in the "near future," so they can recover sunk network costs now before demand dries up.

2. Aussie travellers hit with new Fiji holiday tax

Trips to one of Australia's favourite holiday destinations have become slightly more expensive this week, with Fiji's new tourist tax coming into effect on Tuesday.

Anyone booking accommodation, tours or other holiday activities with large businesses on the island is now being hit with an extra 5% charge.

Several media outlets report the Tourism Services Tax has been brought in to cushion Fiji Airlines against rising jet fuel costs, although travel industry groups have expressed confusion about what sort of transactions the levy will be put on.

Its introduction comes after the Fijian government backtracked on a plan to retrospectively add the tax to bookings that had already been made - a process the country's hotel and tourism association described as a "mess."

The government confirmed in a Facebook post last week that the levy would only apply to bookings made from September 1 onwards.

Fiji was among Australia's top 10 favourite holiday locations for the year ending in June and is just the latest to bring in a tax on tourists: visitors to Bali have had to pay a levy of around $AUD10 each since 2024.

3. Mail to become slower, more expensive as letter business slips

Gas distributors aren't alone in trying to cover static overheads with shrinking customer revenue.

The cost of sending a letter jumped 8.8% this week, as Australia Post continues to use a combination of hikes to stamp prices and cuts to delivery services to try and make its letter business pay for itself.

A small letter now costs $1.85 to send but Australia Post chief executive Paul Graham told SBS News this could soon rise to $2.

It comes after the postal service cut regular letter deliveries from every business day to every second business day in 2024.

In approving the latest stamp price rise, the ACCC noted the extra income would still leave Australia Post short of recovering the cost of providing letter services.

Graham told SBS News letter volumes declined 15% last year and said deliveries could become even less frequent in the future as the business tries to find a sustainable base.

4. EVs overtake petrol cars in Australian sales first

August saw electric vehicles outsell petrol cars for the first time ever nationally, according to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI), the peak body for the Australian automotive industry.

Of the 100,939 new vehicles sold nationwide last month, more than 27,000 were EVs, while new petrol and diesel sales numbered just 25,824 and 23,608, respectively.

By comparison, last August's petrol vehicle sales totalled more than 38,000.

Data from the Electric Vehicle Council shows the Telsa Model Y - an EV - was the most popular choice for Aussies buying a new car.

Council CEO Julie Delvecchio said it marked a "structural shift underway in the Australian car market".

5. Will half a million dollars and prison labour fix Victoria's potholes?

The Victorian government is promising to spend an extra $352 million on fixing potholes in the state's roads, following incidents where "monster" holes damaged dozens of cars in a row.

The state says a plan to put low-risk prisoners to work tackling simple road maintenance tasks could free up more skilled workers to tackle the road crater crisis.

The government says the extra money and staffing will help it fix double the number of potholes it had planned to mend between now and the end of January next year.

Multiple media outlets report inmates will tasked with mowing lawns, controlling weeds, removing graffiti and picking up rubbish.

The decision to involve prison labourers has been controversial: inmates who work do get paid, but their wages can be as little as $7.15 per day, according to The Guardian. Some of this money might also be compulsorily set aside in savings.

On top of these limited earnings, some grocery products prisoners can buy while incarcerated (on top of what they're given for free) are just as expensive in prisons as they are at regular retail outlets.

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