Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I will not hold you responsible for it, Senator Williams; you were not part of it. In April 2007 COAG asked the Australian Transport Commission to devise a new charges determination for implementation in 2008 that fully recovers infrastructure costs from the heavy vehicle industry, ends cross-subsidisation between heavy vehicle classes and indexes charges to ensure costs continue to be recovered. Cost recovery of infrastructure costs from trucking is only fair. The rail industry has to pay for its infrastructure, safety and regulation costs, as does shipping. No-one, not even the trucking industry, is arguing that 21c per litre is unfair.

The bill allows for the minister to issue regulations to index the charges. That regulation would be subject to review by this parliament in the normal manner. The government was always committed to ensuring a fair and transparent process for that regulation so that industry had sufficient confidence in the process. However, I note the concerns from some senators about the indexation provisions. I foreshadow government amendments to remove the capacity of the government to pass regulations that may index the charge beyond 21c per litre. The amendments will ensure that the government can only adjust the charges by disallowable instrument and cannot establish any mechanism that indexes. In short, every adjustment will be disallowable. The amendment will also propose that, prior to its making, the government must ensure that the proposed adjustment undergoes a 60-day consultation process and that the minister considers the comments received in that process.

This is a bill we inherited from the previous government. In a speech given in June 2007 entitled ‘The coalition government’s transport reform agenda’, the then federal Minister for Transport and Regional Services and Leader of the Nationals said:

The National Transport Commission will develop a new heavy vehicle charges determination to be implemented from 1 July 2008. The new determination will aim to recover the heavy vehicles’ allocated infrastructure costs in total and will also aim to remove cross-subsidisation across heavy vehicle classes.

The new charges will be fairer to both those in the industry and to the wider community. Importantly, the new charges deliver the requirements of the Council of Australian Governments for full and ongoing cost recovery. This in turn will make better use of the nation’s infrastructure—a key element of the Rudd Labor government’s plan to raise productivity, fight inflation and maintain economic growth. I note a couple of comments from I think Senator Williams and Senator McGauran. This is not a bill about the indexation of fuel excise.