Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

This disallowance motion seeks to overturn the increase in road user charges for heavy vehicles which came into effect on 1 July 2012 and which has seen heavy vehicle operators slugged by 2.4 cents, with the charge rising from 23.1 cents per litre to 25.5 cents per litre—an increase of 10.4 per cent. Heavy vehicles have been charged for a number of years to recover part of the road maintenance costs attributed to their road use. This cost is recovered in two ways: firstly by the states and territories through registration charges, and secondly by the Commonwealth through the fuel-based road user charge. In 2012-13 total collections are expected to be $2.5 billion.

The Fuel Tax Act of 2006 established a mechanism for the collection of road user charges by reducing the fuel tax credit provided to eligible businesses and non-profit bodies by the amount of the charge. The act also ensures that these entities are entitled to only a partial fuel tax credit for fuel used on a public road for business purposes in registered vehicles over 4.5 tonnes. This tax credit is equal to the amount of the excise on the fuel minus the road user charge.

The National Transport Commission reported to the Standing Council on Transport and Infrastructure in February this year, giving an overview of its methodology. The NTC explained it calculates the total cost base by gathering yearly figures from the states and territories on road expenditure and then adds this to the figure local governments report to the Australian Bureau of Statistics for road expenditure. The NTC also deducts expenditure on non-road costs, for example, amenity expenses to obtain the allocated cost base. This figure is allocated to the entire vehicle fleet by analysing the survey of motor vehicle usage to determine how much should be collected from each vehicle class, taking into account size in passenger car units, weight, kilometres driven and equivalent standard number of accidents. This allows the NTC to calculate how much is owed by the heavy vehicle industry for cost recovery. This figure is divided between the amount collected by the road user charges and the state and territory registration fees on a basis of 62 to 38. The split is largely historical and reflects the revenue shares between the Commonwealth and the states and territories at the time the national charges were implemented.

Additionally, fuel consumption and vehicle number figures from the survey of motor vehicle usage are used to derive the level of registration and road user charge to recover the cost of their impact on the road network. In 2007, the former coalition government initiated a review of the formula and consultation processes in place for determining the appropriate level of the road user charge and state and territory registration fees. However, in March 2008, the coalition successfully moved to disallow Labor's proposed increase to the road user charge on the basis that consultation processes were inadequate and automatic taxation was introduced. The government sought to address these concerns and industry and the coalition have not opposed increases to road user charges and registration fees since 2009.

The National Transport Commission invited public comment in December 2011 on a consultation document setting out the data and calculations used to determine options for a review of heavy vehicle charges to apply from 1 July 2012. During the four-week consultation period, the commission held public forums as well as receiving written submissions. In February 2012, the NTC recommended a rebalance of heavy vehicle charges according to new research on the road maintenance costs associated with different types of vehicles. This recommendation saw most registration charges increase but others fall, road reconstruction expenditure from the 2010-11 natural disasters excluded from calculations and an increase in the road user charge of 2.4c from 23.1c per litre to 25.5c per litre.

On 21 March 2012, the Standing Council on Transport and Infrastructure considered the level of the road user charge of heavy vehicles registration fees. The majority of those presents adopted the NTC recommendations. The coalition has some concerns about the increase to road use charges, which have stemmed from briefings with the department, the NTC and industry groups. The Nationals leader and shadow minister for infrastructure and transport called on the government to meet truckies halfway on the road user charges. The coalition called on the Gillard government to put the brakes on the massive increases to the road use at charges, all to no avail. This is why this disallowance motion has been brought to the House. The 10.4 per cent hike in the road user charges is in addition to be the effects of the carbon tax and comes at a time when the transport industry is struggling to survive the cost increases.

I know, certainly many of the operations throughout the Riverina, many of them family-owned and small fleets, are doing it tough. They meet all the stringent safety requirements, as they should, but they have higher fuel costs, labour costs and other expenses and they are doing it very hard and very difficult at a time when the carbon tax is certainly not helping.

The shadow minister wrote to the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport with a solution earlier this year to reduce the massive costs and to avert a political show down. The coalition's proposal would have reduced the increase to 5.7 per cent by eliminating an unexpected $144 million surcharge being imposed to correct earlier miscalculations. Truck drivers need to be protected from the increased charges, arbitrary increases in registration and fuel excise costs. The trucking industry has been alarmed ever since the National Transport Commission decreed at 10.4 per cent increase in heavy vehicle charges, which took effect from 1 July. The Australian Trucking Association says that the decision is based on outdated truck numbers which inflate the amount drivers must pay to the government in 2012-13 and overstated road building and maintenance calculations. Instead of counting the actual number of truck registrations, the ATA says the NTC took old registration figures and extrapolated a theoretical fleet size which will see drivers fork out $700 million more than they actually should.

Making matters worse, as usual, consultation this year could well be described as shambolic. Documents provided to industry were later altered before being given to ministers for a decision. The industry was not provided with detailed information on the model used by the NTC, nor the input data or assumptions underpinning them. In fact, these were made available only after industry secured a freedom of information request, and even then only after the NTC's recommendations had already been accepted by the Standing Council on Transport and Infrastructure.

The ATA says that, despite the NTC's recommendation that flood recovery expenditure be excluded from the calculations, about 20 per cent of that expenditure remains in the formula. In addition, $144 million was unexpectedly added to the amount to be collected because of a recalculation of past obligations under the model. The Australian Livestock Transporters Association estimates of the impact of the NTC's pricing model will result in road trains being overcharged by $27.9 million per year, or by 40 per cent. As such, the principle of cost recovery by vehicle class is corrupted.

In May 2012 transport ministers agreed to review the NTC formula, accepting the general view that it may not be an accurate reflection of the costs attributable to all heavy vehicle classes. Despite SCOTI ministers agreeing to the increase, the Northern Territory and Western Australian governments have implemented significantly lower registration increases and the New South Wales and South Australian governments have announced concessions for certain truck configurations.

Since all parties seem to agree that the calculation model is in need of review, it would be palpably unfair to apply this model to justify such a massive increase. The road user charge is collected through the fuel excise system and truck registration fees, many of which will increase by more than 30 per cent. As I say, this is at a time when regional trucking companies are doing it very tough. The charge costs the road transport industry almost $2.5 billion a year and is intended to cover road maintenance and construction costs attributable to the industry. The member for Ballarat spoke of the need for sleep for truck drivers and of the tragic role that fatigue plays in road safety. Everybody in this House is very aware of the fact that truck drivers need to play by the rules, to certainly have the necessary sleep and to ensure that safety aspects are absolutely paramount. I am sure that truck owners and operators throughout the nation are also very aware of the absolute need for truck drivers, given the high incidence of their involvement in many fatal accidents and the weight their vehicles are carrying, to ensure that safety comes first and foremost.

The member for Ballarat alleged that the member for Wide Bay lacked vision for infrastructure, but I would say it is quite the opposite. The Nationals, of which the member for Wide Bay is our leader, have always known that our road networks are the arteries which feed the national economy. They are the highways which connect us as people and which deliver Australia's commodities to markets here and to our ports, which are the gateways to international markets for our regional produce, our food and fibre. Whether it is local roads and streets or national highways and railways, a quality land transport system is vital to a strong economy. No-one knows that more than the Nationals members of parliament.

It was John Anderson who drove the creation of AusLink, Australia's first national road and rail funding plan. Warren Truss, the member for Wide Bay, was the transport minister when the last coalition government committed the necessary funding to complete the four lanes of the Hume Highway between Sydney and Melbourne. I can honestly say that the improvements around Gundagai and Tarcutta in the Riverina electorate have certainly enabled far better safety aspects for that stretch of freeway.

We know that Australia's freight task will double by 2030, but along the eastern seaboard it will treble. Communities and commuters from Sydney to the Queensland border were promised a four-lane Pacific Highway for years. That is a highway that many heavy vehicles use. The government had pledged to duplicate the Pacific Highway by 2016 but, unfortunately, that has not occurred. Labor is saying that any future money from the Commonwealth will have to be matched 50-50 by the New South Wales coalition government, even though Labor paid more than 80 per cent of the cost of projects on the highway when the state Labor government was in office in New South Wales. Labor knows that the NSW government, which is deeply in debt, cannot afford a deal such as that. The people deserve no less than they were promised.

On Saturday, at the Nationals' Federal Conference here in Canberra, I am pleased to report, the member for Wide Bay, who does not lack any vision, as the member for Ballarat would allege, announced that the next Liberal-National coalition government—hopefully, that will be at the next election—will provide the funding to complete the widening to four lanes of the Pacific Highway all the way from Sydney to the Queensland border. That was a very welcome announcement, because that particular stretch of road is used by many heavy vehicles transporting the wonderful produce of the regions to capital city ports and world markets. On top of the $3.56 billion already included in the federal budget, the coalition will redirect $2.08 billion that Labor had allocated to the Epping to Parramatta rail line, which the O'Farrell government does not regard as a priority at this time, to guarantee the completion of the Pacific Highway. I think everybody in this House should applaud that move. The new funding commitment brings the Commonwealth's funding offer up to the standard 80-20 ratio and puts an end to Labor's phoney and discredited stand-off with New South Wales.

Once this project is completed, Australia will have a four-lane national highway connecting the country's three largest cities—Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane—with four-lane connections to Sale, Toowoomba, Gympie and other centres. That is a wonderful announcement that complements the coalition's existing announcement of new major roads projects in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth and its recommitment to Tasmania's Midland Highway and the Toowoomba Range crossing. There will be more to say on roads as the months progress, not just on highways but on local roads and bridges too.

In conclusion, road user charges are being imposed unfairly. That is why this disallowance motion is necessary and is imperative. I commend it to the House.

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