Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance and Administration) Share this | Hansard source

Senator, biodiesel does not attract any excise, so therefore it cannot claim any excise back—that is the point. Mineral diesel attracts an excise and then gets a credit under the off-road scheme. Biodiesel does not attract excise, so it is net at price. What you are describing is effectively the cost price difference between two different products. That is not part of the impact of this bill. What I might say, though, is that if you are looking to promote a more environmentally friendly use and going to a B100 fuel for use in equipment, what the loophole does is give an advantage to a blended product. It gives an advantage of 18c to B49. There is clearly an unintended advantage given to a product as part of this process that even distorts the biofuels market.