AAA calls for fairer share of fuel excise
Motorists are entitled to a larger slice of the pie from the federal budget, claims AssociationThe Australian Automobile Association (AAA) has come out swinging in its pre-budget submission to government.
While the AAA applauded the federal government for its roads funding during 2011 and 2012, it expressed concern in a press release concerning rumoured spending cuts of up to $2.6 billion for the next year.
“It is deeply concerning that funding for roads and other land transport infrastructure is expected to be cut by more than $2.6 billion during 2012-13, a reduction of 38 per cent,” the AAA press release quoted Executive Director Andrew McKellar as saying.
“There is a direct link between well targeted investment in transport infrastructure and reducing deaths and serious injuries on our roads. Investment in roads was at a record level in 2011-12 and the government should be congratulated for that however, we now face a substantial drop in future spending. Motorists pay 38.1 cents per litre in fuel excise but an average of only 10.9 cents per litre is returned by the Federal Government in the form of investment in roads – the bottom line is that motorists are being taken advantage of.”
The last occasion fuel excise hit the news was during the lead-up to the introduction of the GST in 2000, when the Howard government was forced to grapple with the thorny issue of imposing the 10 per cent tax levy on petrol, without wishing to reduce the fuel excise. But well prior to that motoring associations had frequently drawn the public's attention to the disparity between the money coming to government from the excise and the outgoings allocated to building and repairing roads.
“Over a four year period it is projected there will be a $36 billion shortfall between fuel tax revenue and investment in land transport,” McKellar continued. “The current situation isn’t good enough and the AAA calls for an increased share of fuel excise to be directed to investment in road and other land transport infrastructure.”
Whether the federal government — committed to returning the budget to surplus — will necessarily see things the way the AAA does remains to be seen.
The AAA's pre-budget submission is can be read in full at the association's web site.
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