Billions in fuel tax should only be spent on roads, Australian drivers say

Australian drivers are overwhelmingly in favour of all money raised from fuel taxes – $12.7 billion in from 30 June 2020 to 1 July 2021 – being spent on better roads and transport infrastructure, one survey says.

As the federal fuel excise reverts to its usual rate next week after it was halved from 44.2 to 22.1 cents per litre for six months, the Australian Automobile Association (AAA) – which represents state motoring clubs, such as the NRMA, RACV and RACQ – has renewed its call for more transport spending.

The survey found 67 per cent of motorists believe all fuel taxes should be spent on upgrading road and transport infrastructure, and about 56 per cent supported the return to the full fuel excise rate of 44.2c/L, provided it was spent on transport infrastructure.

The AAA said the revenue raised from the fuel excise accounted for 69.9 per cent of the Federal Government's spending on road infrastructure in the 2020-2021 financial year (1 July 2020 to 30 June 2021), up from 40.9 per cent the previous year.

But the fuel excise had raised $127 billion over the past 10 years, while returning only 53.7 per cent of the revenue to infrastructure spending.

At the same time, the AAA says the ranking of Australia's transport infrastructure by the World Economic Forum has fallen by 20 places – from 18th to 38th – in four years, putting it behind India and Azerbaijan.

“The AAA again calls for the October (Federal) Budget to allocate 100 per cent of fuel excise revenue raised to Commonwealth funding of land transport infrastructure,” said the managing director of the AAA, Michael Bradley, in an official statement.

The AAA survey, covering 1910 people in August, also showed 60 per cent of people oppose the increase in fuel excise if there was no new spending on infrastructure.

From the survey group, 10 per cent said high fuel prices were their biggest worry from the overall cost of living.

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