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Australian petrol costs are rising as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine pushes up international oil costs. It’s doubtless motorists might be paying greater than $2.15 a litre for unleaded petrol inside a number of weeks.
In response, impartial South Australian senator Rex Patrick has referred to as on the federal authorities to halve the gas excise on petrol for 12 months. “Excessive petrol costs are an financial boa constrictor throttling family budgets,” he mentioned this week. “We have now to take the strain off.”
The gas excise is a hard and fast quantity, at the moment set at 44.2 cents a litre. Halving it could due to this fact knock 22.1 cents off the value of petrol.
That would definitely supply some aid on the bowser, and to the economic system. It will not, nevertheless, serve Australia’s financial and nationwide pursuits in the long run.
At a time when world occasions underline the significance of better vitality safety, it could lengthen our already alarming dependence on oil-based imports and undermine insurance policies to shift the nation away from fossil fuels.
Learn extra:
What Russia’s battle means for Australian petrol costs: $2.10 a litre
What’s the gas excise value?
Calls to chop gas tax come up each time Australian petrol costs rise. That is regardless of Australian taxes – the gas excise plus 10% GST – being among the many lowest charges within the OECD and making little contribution to cost will increase.
All GST income is distributed to state and territory governments. The gas excise is (theoretically) levied to pay for Australia’s street infrastructure.
Within the 2019-20 monetary 12 months it collected about $5.6 billion from petrol and about $11.8 billion from diesel (a lot of which was reimbursed by means of diesel tax rebates). The web income from all gas excises, in accordance with the Australian Car Affiliation, is about $11 billion, a determine that has not considerably elevated prior to now decade.
Undermining decarbonisation
Whereas making vitality costs as low-cost as doable does have some short-term financial logic, reducing the gas excise would undermine the federal government’s long term strategic objective to decarbonise the economic system.
That is vital each for Australia to fulfill its worldwide obligations to take motion on local weather change and to take care of the narrower nationwide curiosity of getting ready the Australian economic system to compete in a carbon-constrained world.
Shifting away from fossil fuels to electrical (and a few hydrogen fuel-cell) automobiles is a key a part of this. The Morrison authorities has acknowledged this with a goal of 30% of all new automobile gross sales being electrical by 2030. (Electrical automobiles made up slightly below 2% of recent automobile gross sales in 2021.)
Whereas the federal government has dedicated $250 million to its Future Fuels and Autos Technique to assist obtain the goal, its coverage largely will depend on low-emissions automobiles reaching “pricing parity” with inner combustion engines by mid-decade, and for market forces to do the remainder.
Slashing the gas excise received’t do something to assist this plan develop into actuality.
Learn extra:
As petrol costs rise, will carbon emissions come down?
It will additionally undermine state and territory authorities spending on insurance policies to encourage the uptake of electrical automobiles, by means of incentives equivalent to stamp-duty waivers, free registration and rebates.
Taking vitality safety severely
Shifting away from fossil fuels is essential for addressing Australia’s rising vitality insecurity.
Learn extra:
Explainer: what’s vitality safety, and the way has it modified?
Power safety entails two important facets: uninterrupted availability and affordability. It’s a difficulty Senator Patrick cares about. In mid-Febuary, for instance, he joined with the Greens chief Adam Bandt and impartial members Andrew Wilkie and Bob Katter to attract consideration to the difficulty, hopping aboard an electrical bus inbuilt Sydney for a photograph op in entrance of Previous Parliament Home.
Power safety doesn’t get a lot consideration throughout “regular” instances, however present occasions have properly and really underlined the risks of being overly depending on overseas provides.
As Prime Minister Scott Morrison warned this week, the world has entered a interval of “profound strategic problem and disruption”. We’re on the mercy of the worldwide market and international provide chains for our provide safety and gas affordability.
Australia’s dependence on oil imports has been rising for a minimum of a decade. Closure of oil refineries together with declining oil manufacturing means we now import greater than 90% of our petrol wants. But we’re ample with renewable sources to generate electrical energy to energy low-emissions automobiles, and the remainder of the economic system.
The answer to customers being hostage to overseas oil provides and risky international costs is not going to come from slashing the gas excise.
It would come from lowering demand for oil-based fuels by means of insurance policies that promote native vitality era and switching to low-emissions automobiles – like the electrical bus that Patrick sat in a simply few weeks in the past.
Vlado Vivoda doesn’t work for, seek the advice of, personal shares in or obtain funding from any firm or group that will profit from this text, and has disclosed no related affiliations past their tutorial appointment.
