Tony Pasin (Barker, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) recognises that the:

(a) fuel excise levied by the Commonwealth will raise $13.7 billion in 2022-23, and is expected to increase up to $15.8 billion in 2025-26; and

(b) revenue raised by the fuel excise makes a significant contribution toward the costs of the development and maintenance, safety and efficiency of our road transport network;

(2) notes that:

(a) the budget shows 91 per cent of the fuel excise is being reinvested in land transport infrastructure in 2022-23 but is decreasing to 88 per cent by 2025-26; and

(b) between the March and October 2022 budgets, land transport infrastructure spending decreased over the forward estimates by $4.33 billion; and

(3) calls for the Government to allocate 100 per cent of fuel excise revenue for investment in road transport infrastructure.

Fuel excise is an important contributor to the state and nature of our roads in Australia. You might ask: why is it important to have funds expended on our road network? Well, put simply, there's a safety requirement; there's also a productivity and efficiency requirement. In terms of the safety requirement, can I tell you that 1,200 people lost their lives last year on Australian roads and 40,000 people were seriously injured. I think that makes that case. In terms of productivity and efficiency, can I tell you that revenue raised by fuel excise cannot be underestimated in terms of the significant contribution it makes to the development and maintenance and safety and efficiency of our road network. It's trite to say, but I will say it, that building and maintaining a safe and efficient transport system is central to Australia's continued economic prosperity. Land transport is an essential enabler of Australia's economic growth, and a greater level of investment needs to be maintained.

Fuel excise, which is collected at 47.7c in the litre, will deliver to the Australian general revenue some $13.71 billion in the 2022-23 financial year. It's projected to increase to $14.74 billion in 2023-24, $15.82 billion in 2024-25 and $15.87 billion in 2025-26. It's fair to say that's a gargantuan amount of money that Australian motorists will pay via taxes at the bowser.

What I'm concerned about, and what this motion alerts the parliament to, is that currently 91 per cent of the excise collected is expended on our land transport routes. Sadly, that's expected to decrease to 88 per cent by 2025-26. In the year just passed we had two budgets, which, of course, is unusual. We had the coalition budget in March and the Labor budget in October. It's my responsibility to highlight to this place, and to all of us more generally, that land transport infrastructure spending decreased by $4.33 billion between those two budgets—that is, between the March coalition budget and the October Labor budget. With respect, that's more money than you can fly a rocket ship over. It's money that is well and truly needed by our road network as it is burdened under the pressure of a lack of maintenance, made worse by the recent prolonged wet period.

The coalition government presented the budget in March 2022, and it was packed with infrastructure investment. In fact, everybody knew that there was a $120 billion infrastructure pipeline. The coalition legacy included important programs to improve road safety, including upgrading key regional road corridors through the Roads of Strategic Importance initiative, safer local roads and bridges through the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program, the Roads to Recovery Program, the Black Spot Program, the Heavy Vehicle Safety and Productivity Program, and the Bridges Renewal Program. I could continue on and on, but I won't.

What I want to do is extend a call. It's a call that the Australian Automobile Association, AAA, the peak motorist body in Australia, has also been making. And that is that 100 per cent of Australia's fuel excise collected from motorists be expended on our road network, hypothecated for that purpose. At the end of the day, the average Australian family contributes approximately $1,188 a year in fuel excise. This is at a time when cost-of-living pressures have never been greater. I respectfully suggest to you they pay that money begrudgingly, at an opportunity cost to other things in their lives. The very least we can do is ensure that every single cent of that $1,188 is invested in the road network to make it safer, more efficient and more productive. It's my call and it's the AAA's call. It's the only call that needs to be made in this space, and it's one that Labor need to stand up for, even if some of you stand up too early.

Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Centre Alliance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Llew O'Brien (Wide Bay, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Sam Rae (Hawke, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you to the member for Barker for moving this motion about the contrast in approach between the former Liberal government and the Albanese Labor government's investment in transport infrastructure. The former Liberal government left a terrible economic legacy: a trillion dollars of debt with no meaningful economic dividend to show for it. For almost a decade, those opposite were making up infrastructure announcements and promises without thinking about how or when they could reasonably be delivered. They spent more time printing gloss than pouring concrete or asphalt. As a result, they left a catalogue of undercosted projects, many without a feasible plan for delivery. In the lead-up to the 2019 election there were imaginary commuter car parks promised in marginal seats without consideration for or consultation with local or state governments. Even the former Treasurer, the former member for Kooyong, promised four car parks in his electorate before later abandoning every single one of them.

Despite the decade of waste under the former Liberal government, the Albanese Labor government is taking responsibility for infrastructure investment. We are delivering on our election commitments and ensuring that government infrastructure spending is responsible and sustainable. We have rid the federal infrastructure budget of the waste and rorts we inherited and have begun the rollout of a $123 billion infrastructure pipeline.

We're restoring the role of Infrastructure Australia in this process and working closely with state and territory governments to ensure projects will deliver a boost to productivity and, importantly, deliver an economic dividend for the Australian people. These measures are not just about fairness and integrity but also about ensuring our infrastructure agenda makes economic sense. Investment in infrastructure should drive economic growth and create opportunity for people and industry alike. Through this growth and opportunity, public infrastructure investment should provide a strong return for increased individual and collective productivity.

After coming to government last year, we put all existing infrastructure spending through a rigorous review. All Infrastructure Investment Program projects were considered through the audit of wasteful spending, a review of March budget measures and a review of the timing of existing investments. This repositioning of projects was a reflection of our commitment to transparent and economically responsible infrastructure investment. This process ensured that, unlikely the former Liberal government, funding allocated by the Albanese Labor government will go to where it is needed most.

My electorate of Hawke is home to one of the fastest growing populations in the country. I understand the need for serious investment in our transport infrastructure, as does my community. The Western Highway is one of the main arterial roads through Hawke, with 77,000 vehicles travelling the stretch between Melton and Caroline Springs every day. Although Melton is one of the fastest growing areas in Australia, the last time this crucial road was upgraded was under the last Labor government and then Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, a bloke named Anthony Albanese. Since then our community has suffered nine long years of neglect under the former Liberal government as their infrastructure priorities were dictated by electoral margins rather than need. Now a further upgrade is long overdue, and that's why the Albanese Labor government is kickstarting the Western Highway upgrade with a $10 million business case required to get things moving. Secured in October's budget this business case is the critical first step in ensuring the safety and efficiency of this crucial road link.

Ahead of the Victorian state election the Andrews Labor government, the Victorian state government, matched our commitment. They understood the value of it, and they laid the foundation for a collaborative approach to delivering this upgrade. The state and federal Labor governments are working closely together to ensure the project is delivered efficiently and with future growth along the corridor in mind. The contrast could not be more clear. The former Liberal government wasted and rorted their way through nine long years to the detriment of our country and in particular to communities like mine. Now the Albanese government is taking a considered approach to ensuring infrastructure investment is directed where it is needed most. It is absolutely clear that only Labor governments can be relied upon to deliver the infrastructure that our communities need the most.

Llew O'Brien (Wide Bay, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

If a charity raised funds for sick kids but didn't give them the money, there would be an uproar. But somehow it's appropriate for the Albanese government to hit motorists with a user charge and not spend the funds raised on building better roads. For every litre motorists pump into their car, they pay a fuel excise of 47.7c, giving the Commonwealth $15 billion per year. I agree with the Australian Automobile Association that the entire $15 billion, and not per cent less, should go directly back into road infrastructure. Anything less and the Labor government is robbing the drivers of more affordable second-hand fuel cars who can't afford a brand-new EV in the showroom. Instead the Albanese government is projected to withhold billions of dollars raised from the fuel excise for road upgrades, as communities in Wide Bay bury friends and family members who were taken too soon on our roads, particularly in Queensland where we've had a major spike in the road toll. Thirty-seven people were killed in 2022 on roads in the region of Wide Bay. Across Queensland, more motorists died last year than in any other state, tragically with a road toll of 299 fatalities recorded. Only four weeks into this year, our road toll has again spiked. Yet where is the fuel excise, the money extracted from motorists and originally designed for the upkeep of roads? Where is it being spent?

Compared with the coalition's March 2022 budget, land transport infrastructure spending has been slashed by billions of dollars over the forward estimates under Labor. In Queensland they have slashed $3.2 million from the Black Spot Program over four years; they've cut $62 million from the Roads of Strategic Importance over four years; and it now appears that Labor has kicked the much-needed Tiaro Bypass into the long grass. I think it's plain wrong to use the fuel excise for anything but its first intended purpose: safe road building to stop our devastating road deaths. If the government intends to keep the fuel excise, it must give the funds raised back to the roads they belong to. The latest funding profile indicated that the timing for the Tiaro Bypass, a nine-kilometre corridor, has been delayed at least a year, and major construction has not even started. The Queensland government won't seek more than $150 million for the four-lane Tiaro Bypass until 2026-27 or later, a full year or more later than previously indicated by the Queensland government.

Queensland Minister for Transport and Main Roads Mark Bailey has a shocking track record when it comes to delivering projects on time, as we saw with the Tinana overtaking lanes and the Bells Bridge intersection in Gympie, where funding was announced in January 2019 and construction is still underway some four years later. The Tiaro Bypass seems destined to suffer a similar prolonged delay because of Minister Bailey's inability to share the community's ambition to drive this road project forward as quickly as possible.

The former Deputy Prime Minister and minister for infrastructure Barnaby Joyce confirmed that the Australian government's share of funding for the project was available and ready to flow to the Queensland government. After Labor's budget, the office of the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, Catherine King, provided information which Mark Bailey said was inaccurate, with state Labor contradicting federal Labor and creating confusion about whether Tiaro was being funded or not. Who is actually telling the truth when it comes to this road? We know that Tiaro is the four-lane bypass Minister Bailey never wanted and said wasn't needed, and this funding report shows that motorists will continue to be put in danger for another four years or more. Now, with state Labor delaying projects and federal Labor cutting funding to road infrastructure, the deadly section between Gympie and Maryborough may not be four lanes for decades to come.

When the Commonwealth introduced a petrol tax more than a century ago, it told the motoring public that it would be entirely spent on roads, and I believe this should continue to happen.

Matt Burnell (Spence, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak to the motion moved by one of my South Australian parliamentary colleagues and electorate neighbours, the member for Barker. I take note that the notice for this motion was given in late November last year. Given that this is the first sitting day for the year, it gives me a bit of pause to think about the passage of time generally and about contemporary history.

Admittedly, this, the 47th Parliament, marks my first term in this place, and the same can be said of my colleague the member for Hawke, who has also contributed to this debate today, However, we, like millions of Australians out there in the community at the time, saw just what the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison government's record was when it came to infrastructure funding and a swathe of other policy areas that are just as vital to our country. So, like the member for Hawke earlier, I too will be ensuring that we do not allow any historical revisionists to come into this place and pretend that the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison government's approach to infrastructure was anything short of disjointed, visionless and short-sighted. This is by no means an attempt to stifle or discourage debate in this place on infrastructure, but it is certainly important to outline the plain and simple fact that the Albanese government has been elected to not just implement its vision for Australia but also clean up the mess, the policy quagmire and the malaise left by the previous government, the ATM government.

I've also noticed that, during the brief life of this current parliament, those opposite have often come into the chamber and made reference to our government 'making a bad situation worse'. It is at least some evidence, and cold comfort, that those opposite are slowly but surely approaching the point that the previous government got it so dreadfully wrong on so many areas of public policy that even those who were part of it call it out for what they left us: a bad situation. I'm not entirely sure they intended to highlight this by using that phrase, but, if it is the case, I certainly do appreciate their candour.

And what a bad situation it was. But, upon its election, the Albanese Labor government took a much closer look at a number of schemes and projects that were green-lit under the previous government—a line-by-line, root-and-branch look. One of the main mechanisms for doing this was the waste and rorts audit. This is in addition to the many investigations conducted by the Australian National Audit Office, which uncovered a number of startling revelations as to a number of schemes and projects under the previous government. What was found were many projects recommended by a ministerial or prime ministerial office, rather than by a department on its merits.

And what does that leave us with? Imaginary car parks, and projects that were under-costed and over-egged and increasingly difficult to complete in a time of rising inflationary pressures and supply chain issues.

The Albanese government is taking responsibility to correct the course of the nation's infrastructure vision and to put Australia back on the right course after nearly a decade of reckless mismanagement by those opposite. Thankfully, we are now led by a prime minister who intimately understands infrastructure and the importance of getting it right, not just in the here and now but for generations to come. Having been an infrastructure minister himself for close to six years certainly helps with this.

As we all know, under the last government, we had the former member for Wide Bay, Warren Truss, and then the member for Gippsland, the member for New England, the member for Riverina and then back again to the member for New England. That is a startling turnover—seldom a recipe for success—in a portfolio area that desperately requires stewardship and long-term vision. I remember former prime minister Tony Abbott touting himself as the 'infrastructure prime minister'. As history has shown us, this could not have been further from the case.

But we certainly have one now—a prime minister who also knows the difference between Yeppen and Yeppoon; a prime minister who, in his government's last budget, delivered a $123 billion infrastructure pipeline to be delivered over the next 10 years.

Lastly, I take the member for Barker's sincerity at face value. But, as the shadow assistant minister for infrastructure and transport, he should take stock of his former government's inglorious legacy on infrastructure—perhaps in one or two of his many media releases—because, unlike the member for Hawke and me, the member for Barker has been in this place since the 44th parliament. Perhaps the land transport he is looking for is a DeLorean. Hopefully, he has found the flux capacitor so he can travel back in time to blame the real culprits for this mess—the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison government.

Andrew Willcox (Dawson, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Barker for moving this motion. This motion hits home the difference between regional Australia and metro Australia, and that is in road infrastructure.

The fuel excise levy, which raised $13.7 billion between 2022 and 2023, helps to fund the development and maintenance of our roads. Under Labor, the fuel excise levy is set to increase to $15.8 billion by 2025 to 2026. But do you know what's strange? Even though Labor is quite happy to rip more money out of our back pocket through the fuel levy, they're going to be reducing how much of the levy goes to our road transport infrastructure.

In regional Australia, our roads are the arteries to the heart. We don't have 20 buses stopping every minute. We don't have the light rail networks of the big cities. For us, roads aren't a want; they're a necessity. For many in Dawson, to get to work we use the Bruce Highway, which is one lane in and one lane out. For the people living in the regions, road funding isn't some airy-fairy wish; it's the difference between getting to work, receiving food supplies and having access to emergency services and not. I recently asked my electorate what are their top concerns around the cost of living, and 80 per cent of the participants said that the cost of fuel was on the top of their list. The tax on fuel is hurting regional Australia's back pocket—so much so that the previous coalition government provided a six-month 22c -per-litre relief for Australians last year.

Now let's talk about the state of our roads in my neck of the woods. We recently had a rain event, where the Bruce Highway in the north was cut in 12 different spots, and it wasn't cut for an hour or two; it was cut for two whole days. That's two days when, if you hurt yourself, there's no ambulance on the way and when there's no way you'll be able to buy essential supplies or get home to your loved ones. In my home town of Bowen, there are roadworks that have been deserted for 12 months, and the work that was started has just washed away. The Queensland state Minister for Transport and Main Roads then thought it was a good idea to come up to my region and have a spruik about how well our roads have held up. According to Queensland Labor, when the Bruce Highway falls apart, they reckon it's held up well. This is what happens when you're not putting money where money is needed. I've always called for more funding for the Bruce, and after the last rain event, which saw families stuck in the middle of nowhere for days on end, I'm at it again.

Moving forward, we need the Bruce Highway to be more than maintained; it needs to be improved and upgraded. The region should be treated like the south-east corner when it comes to investment in road infrastructure. When I say 'upgraded', I don't mean roadworks that sit stagnant for years; I mean flood mitigation all the way between Mackay and Townsville. We are tired of seeing the Bruce Highway cut in places such as Goorganga Plains, south of Proserpine, or Peters Flats, just north of Bowen. My people work so hard for this country, and they deserve a road that works for them.

In the October 2022 budget, the Labor government cut funding to the Black Spot Program by $69 million and made several decisions to cut funding to the Bruce Highway upgrade projects over the forward estimates. These funds have been reprofiled to years beyond the forward estimates. By investing less funds in our regional roads, the standard only falls further behind those of the city, and that is just unacceptable. One hundred per cent of the income from the fuel excise must go to improving our regional and rural road infrastructure. Let's compensate our fuel users when they call an ambulance so the ambulance will arrive. Let's compensate the mums and dads of the region so they can feel confident, knowing they'll get home safely. Let's build an Australia ready for tomorrow.

Rick Wilson (O'Connor, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Trade) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It gives me great pleasure to rise today to support this motion by the member for Barker and also the call by the Australian Automobile Association that 100 per cent of the fuel levy collected be reinvested in the road network. Just to put some context around this, every motorist who fills their vehicle at the petrol bowser pays 47.7c per litre in fuel excise, which adds up to close to $15 billion per year. That is a road user charge, and I'll come back to the road user charge in a moment. But what I want to emphasise here is that under the coalition, by 2021-22, 98 per cent of that money was being reinvested in the road network, moving up to 100 per cent by 2022-23. When the new government, the Albanese government, handed down its budget in October, it was revealed that this investment of the fuel excise would decrease to 88 per cent by 2025-26. As a member for a regional electorate covering 1.1 million square kilometres with a massive road network, this is completely unacceptable.

I want to put on the record the achievement of my grain growers this year in producing a second consecutive record grain crop of 26 million tonnes—and growing as those last truck loads arrive at the bins. That harvest will need to be transported to the port predominantly by road, and the road network is not up to the job. Unfortunately, we're seeing a high number of accidents, including fatal accidents, on our road network. Just last week, owners of the two major trucking companies that haul the state's grain were out in the media calling for an immediate upgrade of both the Albany Highway and the South Coast Highway where a lot of that grain travels into the Albany port or across to the Esperance port.

Shire president of Plantagenet, Chris Pavlovich, made the point that the Albany Highway needs an upgrade investment of 15 kilometres per year. A well-constructed road lasts about 30 years, so a 400-kilometre road needs an upgrade of around 15 kilometres every year to keep that road up to scratch. At the moment we're not going anywhere near that. We're putting bandaids on the problem and it's not getting any better. In fact, at this point in time it's getting worse.

I just want to touch on some of the initiatives of the previous government across my electorate that I'm very proud of. There's the $120 million road safety improvement program. Constituents of mine driving around the very large electorate of O'Connor will have noticed the extra metre of seal on probably thousands of kilometres of roads. This dramatically increases the safety of those roads. When cars leave the centre strip, they're not going into gravel and getting into a swerve and ending up rolling into the gutter or, even worse, hitting a tree. They are still on bitumen and they can correct and get back on the road. That's a really important road safety improvement that we funded.

The $160 million agriculture supply chain infrastructure program will go some way to restoring and improving the road network to get that grain crop into the bins and into the port over the next 12 months. There's also the $170 million ring road at Albany, which is a major investment to improve the efficiency of the road freight into the Albany port. It's a project I'm very proud of.

In the last minute that I have I want to bring the conversation back to the fuel excise and the fact that it is a road user charge. We had the Grattan Institute in the Fin Review today, no doubt with the blessing of the Treasurer, floating the idea of removing the rebate which off-road fuel users receive. That would be the miners of my electorate and the farmers of my electorate. This country rides on the back of the WA mining industry, and if that industry is hit with this particular cost it will impact on new investment in projects and it will certainly impact on the profitability of current projects which pay the bills. This will lead to less output for this country. Thank you.

Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There being no further speakers, the debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next day of sitting.