Kerry Bartlett (Macquarie, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Because of those limited supplies and the exponentially growing demand, world prices continue to rise. I might point out a couple of other things that are also important in this context. The dominant factor is crude oil prices—there is no doubt about that. The second significant factor driving petrol prices is the level of taxation. Let me point out the fact that, of the 30 OECD countries, Australia has the third lowest level of excise on fuel, the third lowest level of taxes on fuel. As a result, our prices are in fact the third lowest in the OECD. Yes, it is painful at $1.35, $1.40 or $1.45 a litre. But in most European countries it is in fact over $2 a litre. In some it is over $2.40 or $2.50 a litre.

I might point out that if it had not been for this government fuel prices would be higher, because in 2001 we removed the system of six-monthly indexation introduced by the Labor Party in 1983. If the Labor Party had their way—if we still had the tax regime that was introduced and operated by the Labor Party—fuel prices would be 8½c a litre dearer than they are now. It is because this government removed Labor’s system of automatic indexation that fuel prices in fact are not 8½c a litre dearer. So let us not hear any of this humbug and hypocrisy from the other side. The fact is Labor’s regime of taxes was a high-tax regime. This government has brought those taxes down. We have the third lowest level of taxation in the OECD.

If we want to talk about taxes—and it is not really my job to praise the Queensland government or indeed any state government—at least the Queensland government has an 8.4c a litre rebate on the GST that it gets on fuel. So Queensland motorists are paying less than motorists in every other state because the other state governments want to take every cent of GST that they can. At least the Queensland government is willing to hand some of that back.

This government has already introduced a number of measures in addition to the very significant one that I have just mentioned. In addition to abolishing Labor’s six-monthly system of indexation of fuel, we have introduced a number of other measures: expenditure on research and trials as to the suitability of biofuels, a $55 million concessional excise regime on biofuels and measures to assist us towards that target of 350 megalitres of biofuel by the year 2010. Interestingly in this context, the uproar from the other side, the strident opposition from the other side, when we tried to introduce ethanol—

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