Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation) Share this | Hansard source

I am rather wary of accepting what has been asserted as having been the evidence, having just been advised that Senator Abetz misquoted the Clean Energy Future website in his question. He left out the per unit of GDP, which was a rather important aspect of the question—anything to get a question in, I suppose. I also congratulate Senator Cormann on his House of Representatives ambitions. I see that he is seeking to make a move. I do not know whether he should be congratulated or commiserated for seeking to leave the chamber.

In any event, the government has made clear that all fuel, including petrol, diesel and LPG for passenger motor vehicles and light on-road commercial vehicles, will not be subject to a carbon price. Households and most small businesses already pay fuel excise on their transport fuel and will not face a further carbon price. I am not sure whether or not the senator has been accurately quoting the evidence from the committee. It is the case that some businesses get fuel tax credits, which obviously means they pay no excise or road user charges. The fuel tax credits will be reduced for many businesses, such as mining businesses who use fuel off-road, so that they face an effective carbon price. To help the heavy on-road sector transition to the carbon price, the government's position is also that heavy on-road vehicles will be exempted for the first two years of the scheme, but the government's intention is to bring them into the scheme from 2014-15. Fuel tax credit entitlement will not change for agriculture, forestry and fisheries.