Reports of the meetings suggest Prime Minister Howard may have misled Parliament, as the Australian Financial Review today reported Howard as having told Parliament in September last year during three days of intense questioning that he had not met any Manildra representatives.

Opposition spokesman Kerry O'Brien obtained documents under the Freedom of Information act which outlined a meeting between Honan and Howard where ethanol was the subject of discussion, six weeks prior to the Prime Minister's statements to Parliament.

Reports said the documents showed Honan met Howard in early August with a third person taking notes, and Honan made a pitch for government support, suggesting a range of relief measures.

In September the federal government controversially decided to replace an excise exemption on ethanol with a domestic production subsidy, making imports uncompetitive.

On the retailing front, the federal government on Friday agreed to an October deadline for the public display of the ethanol content of petrol to be displayed on the petrol pump. A national labeling regime had been promised earlier in the year but no timetable had been fixed.

A 10% cap on the amount of ethanol allowed to be blended with petrol, as specified by the federal government, has been in place since July 1.