Sideline Sid Sports correspondant & historian www.sunlive.co.nz

While Sideline Sid is enjoying his winter sojourn in Queensland – each morning brings a scan through the Courier Mail for the news making headlines. One item hitting the headlines on a regular basis is the cost of petrol.

It has just been ramped up with the re-introduction of a fuel tax, in the recent Australian budget, which has been grabbing all headlines since our arrival.

While the Kiwi economy is on the up, the Aussie budget has provided plenty of pain for the proverbial little Aussie battler.

Petrol prices in Queensland ride a roller coaster several times a month, rising and falling up to 20-something cents in each cycle.

While to Kiwi visitors today's price of about $1.40 (NZ$1.55) a litre seems dirt cheap, the Queensland motorists just shrug their shoulders when asked about the rapid rises and falls of gas in their state.

While far from happy about the hugely-fluctuating price, no one can give me an answer on ups and downs of the vital commodity.

A recent story in the money saver section of the Courier Mail give some advice on ‘How to get the best value at the pumps'.

The words of wisdom included motorists keeping a close eye on petrol station prices and to try and pick the lowest point in the price cycle.

With what seems like a different price at every servo, one piece of advice that seems to make sense is the best deals outside of big city pumps could be found at high volume pumps adjacent to major arterial highways.

A real gem is to swap the car for walking shoes or a bike if only going a short distance, which would make you feel better and you'd notice the drop in your fuel consumption.

Just a few days before the petrol advice the Queensland major daily carried a story headlined ‘Bargains as vehicles sales stall'.

The story suggests car-buyers stand by for unprecedented discounts on new cars to make up for five straight months of falling sales. With the Aussie economy on the ropes, there is unlikely to be much improvement in new car sales in the near future.

One piece of Australian motoring good news came on the weekend, with Daniel Ricardo becoming the fourth Australian to grab victory in formula one motor racing.

The young bull, as he's been dubbed, followed in the footsteps Jack Brabham, Alan Jones and Mark Webber, who've driven to victory in F1 motor racing.

His maiden F1 win came in the Canadian Grand Prix. Coincidently, Sir Jack Brabham, who was a legend and former F1 world champion, was laid to rest this week at the grand old age of 88.