Australia’s peak road transport operator body has urged the federal independents to support the coalition’s disallowance motion and block the federal government’s attempts to reap a massive $698 million windfall from trucking companies.
The National Road Transport Operators Association (NatRoad) is furious because the federal government ignored the figures that were put before it by industry which showed that by increasing the effective fuel tax paid by trucking operators from 23.1 to 25.5 cents per litre, the government would reap a massive ‘super normal profit’ of $698 million over the forward estimates (i.e.$698 million in over recovered monies).
NatRoad president and regional transport operator, Geoff Crouch, described the federal government’s decision to ignore the facts as “simple highway robbery.
“Unfortunately, the federal government is immune from prosecution for stealing money from the trucking industry through this massive tax grab, but it is not immune from scrutiny by the federal independents,” Crouch said. “I urge federal MP’s Tony Windsor, Bob Katter, Rob Oakeshott and Andrew Wilkie to do the right thing and support the disallowance motion.
“Trucking companies are the backbone of the Australian economy, carrying the weight of the nation across the country through rain, hail, snow, dust and floods. Rather than impose higher taxes, I urge the federal government to offer road transport operators incentives so that we can meet the ever increasing freight task.
“Those carriers who are unable to pass on the increase will no longer just break even, but be put out of business – throwing thousands of Australians out of work.”