Matt Burnell (Spence, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government. What is the Albanese Labor government doing to support the transport industry and address fuel disruptions?

Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Spence for his question and also for his continued advocacy for transport workers. We do understand that Australians are doing it tough right now, and we're working around the clock to address domestic fuel disruptions that are occurring because of the war in the Middle East.

This morning, led by the Prime Minister, National Cabinet met again to ensure a nationally coordinated approach to these fuel disruptions. Following this, the government has announced that we are reducing the heavy vehicle road user charge to zero for three months to help ease costs for truck companies who are carrying essential supplies right the way across the nation. This is something that they have called for, and it is an important measure alongside the cuts to fuel excise. If we had just reduced fuel excise, as those opposite proposed, without the road user charge, it would have had a significant and material impact on our trucking and supply companies. That is what they did last time, and they left a significant mess for us to clean up in relation to that.

These measures will, of course, complement changes to the Fair Work Act to ensure truck drivers can quickly renegotiate their rates with Australia's major retailers. The government will also defer the next scheduled increase in the heavy vehicle road user charge by six months. We also raised with states and territories that they could also consider their charges around registration.

We know transport operators are feeling the pressure of rising fuel prices, and they have told us that they're struggling at the moment to absorb that cost. Heavy vehicle operators will see a direct reduction at the bowser and cash flow relief through full access through the fuel tax credit. We of course have also halved the fuel excise on petrol and diesel for three months, and halving that will reduce the cost of fuel by 26.3 cents per litre. These changes in road user charging in particular have been called for by the Australian Trucking Association, the Australian Livestock and Rural Transporters Association as well as the Bus Industry Confederation, which does so much work in our public transport system.

Our government is taking strong action to secure our fuel supply, help people with cost of living and keep Australia moving. Just today we've introduced legislation to underwrite the purchase of fuel, fertiliser and other essentials by the private sector so we can secure more cargo coming to Australia. Of course this builds on the work we're doing right the way across government, such as releasing more petrol and diesel onto the market, working with our regional partners to shore up supply and trade of essential goods, and getting fuel into regional and agricultural communities that are facing fuel disruptions. We are working right the way across government and across governments to get bipartisanship and a united approach to address these fuel disruptions. We are working with industry and unions and supporting businesses, workers and their suppliers.