on 14-08-2014 11:26 AM
By the time you've payed your car loan, insurance, CTP, Rego, road tolls, fuel, vehicle maintenance, the last thing you need is a rise in petrol prices:
However:
"Mr Hockey wants to end the 13-year freeze on the indexation of the fuel excise, saying over four years it would raise more than $2 billion, which would be spent on roads."
This morning he stood by his comments.
"The Australian Bureau of Statistics data states that the highest 20 per cent of household incomes pay three times more in fuel taxes than the lowest 20 per cent of household incomes," he told ABC NewsRadio from Perth.
"The Australian Bureau of Statistics data is not something that I've concocted, it is the reality. These are dealing with the facts."
However, the Parliamentary Library found in 2001 that raising the fuel excise would be regressive, because low-income earners paid a higher proportion of their income on the tax than higher earners using the same amount of fuel.
The Treasurer is not disputing the analysis.
"Well, that is the case with any indirect tax. Obviously with the GST... when we introduced the GST there were substantial tax cuts," he said.
Yesterday, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten seized on Mr Hockey's comments as evidence the Government was out of touch and "remarkably arrogant", describing the Treasurer as the "Foghorn Leghorn of Australian politics".
Today Mr Hockey said Mr Shorten was a "complete hypocrite".
"The Labor Party is always going to run this personality politics. Good luck to them. Others will join in," he said.
"I don't care about that commentary, I care about dealing with the facts and ensuring that we have a strong economy."
Former Howard government minister Peter Reith says the ABS statistics show Mr Hockey is "completely right".
"Treasurers cop a lot of flak however they are going, but in some of the points he has been making he has been right to make them," he said.
"Let's face it, the Labor Party are absolutely opposed to absolutely everything that he does, whether it is good, bad or otherwise."
Obviously the more you drive the more you'll pay.
Maybe that'll make people use public transport more, which would be a good thing. I'm looking forward to this new railway being finished it might mean we only have to run one car.
Maybe some of the girls at here at work will make the short walk over to the shops instead of driving.
Maybe it'll make the city's traffic congestion ease up a bit.
on 14-08-2014 11:31 AM
Oh dear, now there are three threads
on 14-08-2014 11:44 AM
on 14-08-2014 11:47 AM
LOL am3
14-08-2014 11:51 AM - edited 14-08-2014 11:56 AM
Our train service on the Sth Coast only runs every 50 mins or longer. If my daughter needs to be at Uni by 10.30am ( uni is 30-40 mins away by car) she would have to catch an 8am train. Arriving about 8.40.. Far too early. Next one too late.
So, no, increased fuel costs wont be an incentive to push people like her to public transport.
on 14-08-2014 11:53 AM
That is my favourite cartoon today, paints. Quite clever and says a lot about the 2 clowns featured in it.
14-08-2014 12:25 PM - edited 14-08-2014 12:26 PM
It's all very clever to say use public transport....................... what about those of us who simply have none to use? I can catch a bus from my street to the local bus depot and then into the city................it costs more than it does to drive there.
I can't shop without my car, there is no way I can carry stuff home on the bus and the stores I frequent don't offer delivery.
Qld fuel prices are ridiculous, we used to have the 3 x 3 instead of free rego for pensioners, (at least that is what they told us), now we no longer have the 3 x 3 but no cheaper rego.
on 14-08-2014 12:40 PM
What's 3 x 3?
My local Woolies charges $10 for home delivery - no pensioner discount.
They want you to shop on-line apparently
on 14-08-2014 12:43 PM
The State Government used to provide an 8.354c/litre subsidy to most fuels bought (including Unleaded, Blended unleaded, LPG and Ethanol), which reflected the lower franchise fee Queensland charged compared to other states prior to 1997.
This was usually reflected by an 8.354/litre difference at the pump price, as the subsidy is paid directly to retailers. This was removed on 1 July 2009
14-08-2014 06:34 PM - edited 14-08-2014 06:35 PM
Public transport what's that? City people really have no idea of the distances country people must travel to shop. It's a 30km drive to our nearest Woolies, Aldi etc, so that's a 60km round trip to do the grocery shopping. K Mart, Bunnings etc are a 200km round trip most people who live in the "bush" also pay far more for petrol/diesel that those in the city.