Budget 2014: Motorists to pay more with Coalition poised to reintroduce indexation of fuel excise
Updated 48 minutes ago
Millions of motorists will pay more for petrol as a result of next Tuesday's budget.
The ABC understands the Government is poised to change the indexation on the fuel excise.
Former Liberal prime minister John Howard abolished the indexation after introducing the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in 2001.
Motorists have since paid 38.1 cents per litre in fuel excise, even though the price of fuel has nearly doubled since then.
Deputy Liberal leader Julie Bishop told the ABC in April the Government had "no plans" to re-index the fuel excise, but the ABC now understands the budget will see the measure reintroduced.
It is not known how much the excise will increase, whether it will be permanent, or how much will be raised.
But it is understood the Government is convinced that freezing the excise in 2001 has contributed to the budget situation which it has repeatedly said it was overwhelmingly elected to repair.
Junior minister Jamie Briggs has warned voters "there'll be a range of things in the budget that people will find uncomfortable".
"There'll be a range of measures which will be difficult for us to sell politically of course," he told ABC News 24's Capital Hill program.
"There'll be a range of things ... that people won't particularly like, and we have no joy in doing much of what we have to do, but we have to do it."
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-05-08/government-poised-to-increase-fuel-excise-tax/5438056
