PM Transcripts

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PRESS STATEMENT NO. 128
12 September 1973
ROYAL COMMISSION ON PETROLEUM
The Prime Minister, Mr. Whitlam, announced today that
the Premier of New South Wales, the Honourable Sir Robert Askin,
had agreed to a request to make available Mr. Justice
W. H. Collins, of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, as sole
Royal Commissioner to conduct this inquiry. The Prime Minister
expressed the Australian Government's appreciation for the
co-operation and generosity of the Premier of New South Wales
and the Chief Justice for agreeing to make available the services
of a further judge to assist his Government in an important
national task.
The Prime Minister and the Minister for Minerals and
Energy, Mr. Rex Connor, announced on 20 July that Cabinet had
agreed to appoint a Royal Commission to inquire into all aspects
of refining, marketing and pricing in Australia of all types of'
petroleum and petroleum products.
Mr. Whitlam said that the following Terms of Reference
had been approved for the inquiry:
To make inquiry into, and report upon, the following matters,
so far as they are relevant to laws that have been, or could
be , made by the Parliament, namely
All aspects of the production by refining, and the
marketing and pricing, in Australia of all types of
petroleum, diesel and other fuels for internal
combustion and jet engines, derived from any form
of liquid or gaseous hydrocarbons, whether such
hydrocarbons are produced in Australia or elsewhere,
and all types of residual furnace and heating fuels
and other by-products likewise derived.