‘Fuel excise should be reinvested in infrastructure’ polling finds

Australia’s peak motoring body the Australian Automobile Association (AAA) has released new and independent research suggesting that two thirds of Australians would rather money raised from the fuel excise, which will soon return to its full rate, be reinvested in infrastructure projects.

The poll of 1,910 Australians conducted by Insightfully, revealed that cost of living was the number one concern for 53 per cent of respondents, ahead of both health (nine per cent) and climate change (three per cent).

Ten per cent of those polled identified fuel costs as their top issue of concern (included within the cost of living total).

Key findings from the poll include:

• 67 per cent support 100 per cent of the tax raised from motorists through fuel excise be put back into road and transport infrastructure
• 56 per cent would support the fuel excise going back to its full rate but only if all the money raised is spent on transport infrastructure
• 60 per cent oppose the fuel excise increase if no new measures (such as 100 per cent reinvestment) are enacted

AAA Managing Director, Michael Bradley, said fuel costs were a growing concern for Australian motorists.

“High fuel costs continue to be a major concern for Australian motorists, who clearly expect the taxes they pay at the bowser to be spent on making their transport network safer and more effective,” Mr Bradley said.

“It is clear that a strong majority of motorists oppose a 25 cent per litre increase in fuel excise, but motorists are more accepting of this tax if they see it being spent on the roads and transport infrastructure their communities need.

“The AAA again calls for the October Budget to allocate 100 per cent of fuel excise revenue raised to Commonwealth funding of land transport infrastructure.”

The AAA did not support the March Budget’s halving of fuel excise, which in its view reduced revenue available for infrastructure investment by $3 billion, while doing nothing to address the sustainability or fairness of Australian motoring taxation, nor the factors that continue to drive up prices.

The AAA also flagged concerns that there was no guarantee the cut would be passed onto motorists by fuel retailers.