Janet Rice (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

On the issue of the fuel tax excise, the Australian Greens have had a position over the last year that we are open to discussions about increasing the fuel tax excise if the revenue was going towards measures that would be creating a cleaner, more sustainable economy. In particular, we are open to discussion as to whether the revenue was going to be put towards public transport. The increased fuel tax excise was first considered in last year's budget in the context of a very unfair, brutal budget that was hitting low income earners very significantly. An increase in fuel excise was only going to add to that burden, unless they had the opportunity to be able to reduce the amount of fuel they were using or were able to undertake more of their transport by public transport.