Nick Sherry (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Superannuation and Corporate Law) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Boswell is getting himself in a lather and getting all red-faced. If he was so concerned about this issue, why didn’t he say this to his own leader last year? What we have today is a real example of how an opportunistic opposition that cannot adjust to opposition has really lost its way. The genesis of this package of legislation goes back to work touted and boasted about by the former Prime Minister, Mr Howard. He was the one who commenced this work, back in 2004, when with great fanfare he announced an energy white paper as the policy framework for ‘securing Australia’s energy future’. Mr Howard presumably signed off on it. The document said:

The transport sector has long argued that the current excise arrangements for heavy vehicles, defined as those with a gross vehicle mass of 4.5 tonnes or more, are inefficient and need reform. The government—

that is, the Liberal government—

has listened and will introduce reforms to remove inefficiencies and ensure the excise system plays a more positive role in supporting Australia’s transport task.

Mr Howard went on:

The existing partial excise applying to fuel used in heavy vehicles will be formally recognised and set as a non-hypothecated road user charge from 1 July 2006.

Mr Howard, the former Liberal Prime Minister, went on:

The value of the charge will be set in accordance with the National Transport Commission’s heavy vehicle charging determination process. This cooperative federal-state process—