True, up in the Northern Territory, which used to be known as "the end of the world" before airplane traffic opened it up more easily to visitors, gas is expensive, as are rental cars, which sometimes are pretty old and rugged models--as you can see here!

(This was at a Kakadu historical location preserving an old work site.  I rented Toyotas in Sydney, Darwin, and Cairns--and had no problems with any of them in all my driving in Australia, but in New Zealand I made the mistake of accepting a Ford, with which I had a couple of irritating difficulties, not with how they ran, but with. . .oh never mind, let's not waste your time with those stories!)