Those struggling at the bottom of the economic food chain were delivered another blow today - the Government has raised excise duty on petrol by three cents a litre.
With things economically not looking so great for the Government it appears the excise tax was upped to make The Treasury's forecast look a little rosier.
This is especially hard on those on or near the minimum wage, who have a long commute to work and no practical public transport options. And a car trip to visit the family at Christmas? Forget it. Too expensive.
Expect service stations to up the marketing on junk food and confectionary, as they try to minimise the damage to their bottom line from increased petrol prices by point-of-sale impulse buys which, unlike petrol, attract a nice high margin.