Kim Beazley (Brand, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Does the Prime Minister recall, in April 2001, his Treasurer rejecting David Trebeck’s fuel tax inquiry recommendation to place an excise on LPG? Does he also recall the Treasurer ruling out an excise on LPG in May 2002, announcing an excise in May 2003 and announcing a reduced excise rate and a deferred commencement date in December 2003? Will the government now guarantee Australian motorists that it will not change its mind again and increase that excise on LPG in the future? Given the government’s track record to date, why would Australian motorists believe the Prime Minister?

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Prime Minister need not answer the last part of that question.

John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I do recall the Treasurer’s statements. I also recall, as I am sure the Leader of the Opposition does, the statements contained in the white paper—and what they lay out is that LPG, which is currently excise free, will remain excise free until 2011 and that from 2011 through to 2015 there will be a rise from zero to effectively less than half the excise on petrol. As well as recalling the Treasurer’s statements, I also recall the statements made by the member for Batman on ABC Radio National this morning when, in an interview with Fran Kelly, he followed the remarks made by the member for Hunter—and I recall his remarks, too. The member for Hunter was attacking the government’s excise regime for LPG; the member for Batman was praising it. You see, I listen to these characters very, very carefully—I keep an eye and an ear on them—and what I heard from the member for Batman was a refutation of what the member for Hunter had said and an endorsement of the government’s policy. Our excise regime provides a massive, ongoing incentive for investment in alternative energy.

I also recall—and I might have something to say about this in my statement after questions—that several years ago the worst possible alternative fuel that anybody could possibly contemplate, in the eyes of the Australian Labor Party, was ethanol. Remember? It was not the demon drink; it was the evil ethanol—and the last thing that you should have was ethanol. They tried to destroy it. The member for Hotham and, I think, even the member for Batman, who is normally the acme of responsibility amongst opposition sinners on this issue, lapsed into a bit of rhetoric, of which I will be pleased to remind him of in my statement. Yes, I remember all of those things, can I say to the Leader of the Opposition, and the thing that stands out is that we have got the right balance in relation to excise.

Simon Crean (Hotham, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Regional Development) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Crean interjecting

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Hotham is warned!

John Howard (Bennelong, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is a balance which encourages very heavy investment in LPG and very heavy investment in ethanol but is also sensible about the future revenue needs of this country.