Christine Milne (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to say that I am deeply disappointed by this Fuel Tax Bill 2006 because it shifts all of the costs to our children and to future generations. I fail to see any advantage in this bill. I listened to Senator Ian Macdonald a moment ago saying that there were some positive aspects of the bill, but I cannot see them. I will explain why. The first question I ask is: what is the purpose of taxation? Why would you have a fuel tax? What is the purpose of it? It is an economic lever to achieve some sort of policy objective, otherwise why do you have taxes? You would assume that that policy objective is something to do with the good of the nation, regardless of your perspective in politics. I would argue that this Fuel Tax Bill is not reform; it is business as usual, and business as usual that is going to cost us all very dearly in the future.

The government does not have an integrated energy industry employment policy. There is no such policy. It is all ad hoc initiatives brought in here—one problem arises so they rush in with an ad hoc solution, and then another problem arises and they rush in with a supposed solution to that. Often they undermine one another. In its objectives for this particular legislation the government says that it wants to:

... apply in a consistent and transparent way to all relevant fuels and fuel users ... to be competitively neutral ... minimise [fuel] tax on business inputs ... minimise compliance and administration costs for business and government [and] take account of the government’s environmental, social and fiscal objectives.

What are these environmental, social and fiscal objectives? They are in no way stated. I have heard the government spokespeople saying the government cannot do anything about high oil prices. Where has the government been for the last decade in developing a strategic plan to reduce Australia’s dependence on imported oil? There has been no plan at all. Yesterday the figures came out saying Australia’s single biggest monthly bill—