John Williams (NSW, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I think it is great that Senator Gallacher referred to the question that Senator Collins posed to Senator Abetz about the fuel tax. Let me give you a brief history on fuel tax. Mr Deputy President, you are not the youngest man around here and you would well remember 1983 when the Hawke government was elected. The excise on fuel per litre in 1983—Senator Macdonald might want to listen to this figure—was 6.3c a litre. In the 13 years of the Hawke and Keating governments, it went from 6.3c a litre to 34c a litre. It was the biggest increase in excise on fuel in our nation's history: 6.3c to 34c. It then went from 34c to 38c under the Howard government with the indexation; twice a year, the excise on fuel would go up. But then it was frozen in around 2000 by the Howard government. That was a good thing for two reasons. Firstly, it kept the price of fuel down; it would probably be 15c a litre more expensive today if that indexation had not been removed by the Howard government. Secondly, the budget was in surplus. I know that 'budget surplus' is a very strange thing for those opposite to understand. I think 1989 was the last time the federal Labor Party delivered a budget surplus. The excise was frozen at 38c.

I welcome the indexation brought in, and I will tell you why. When the former Premier Nick Greiner and Deputy Premier Wal Murray were in power in the New South Wales government they brought in what was called the three-by-three policy: 3c a litre for three years—it went on longer, of course. Two-thirds of that tax was collected in the urban areas—that is where the greater population is—but the good news is that two-thirds of it was spent in the rural and regional areas.

I was discussing this with Anna Burke on Sky's Agenda the other day. Of course, Ms Burke is a member in Melbourne, and she does not have a dirt road in her electorate. She probably does not like money being spent on roads. We guaranteed that we would build the roads of the 21st century. Guess what? To build those roads actually costs money. We have inherited this budget mess. It was going to be a budget surplus by now, according to those opposite. Was it the world's greatest treasurer, Wayne Maxwell Swan—the former Treasurer, Mr Swan—who was going to deliver a surplus? We have not seen a surplus—far from it. We directed the budget to rein in spending, to get our books in order and to stop mortgaging our children's futures away, but we also want to build those roads. I live on a dirt road. It has been a mess for a long time but a few months ago Inverell Shire Council did an enormous job of repairing the roads and the school bus run. They did a great job.