DIESEL TAX.
In the last few weeks the Government has boon making inquiries into the actual operation and distribution of the Diesel Tax and
before making my reply I wanted to have firm information which I could give you. The question has now been decided and the Bill has been introduced into the House, the contents of which I hope you will find satisfactory.
You will remember in a statement I sent out a short while ago I said that the tax was going to be distributed as nearly as possible on the basis of collections. For certain reasons, it was not actually possible to do this because there are certain refineries in some States which greatly weigh the taxes collected in those States in their favour. In other words, proportion of the tax is paid at the refinery. That is, of course, unrelated to road use because refineries distribute their fuel throughout the Commonwealth.
It was than decided to examine the question of distributing the tax on the basis of motor registration. This was also found to-be impracticable; in fact, it would have operated to the detriment of Victoria, the reason being that many heavy diesel
operators who operato almost exclusively on Victorian roads register for a f ;e of 30/— in Now South Wales.
In actually deciding how the tax should be split up, the Government kept in mind the purpose of the tax, which was to mekc
the heavy diesel operators pay e fair share of the maintenance of roads, something which they have not been doing in the past. It is only reasonable therefore to expect that the greatest expenditure from this diesel tax would be made in the areas whore the diesel operators operate most heavily.
For the reasons I have given, tho Government found that it could not find any hard and fast formula that would seem to
give a fair distribution and, at the same time, fulfil the purpose of the tax. A formula based on collections and a formula based on registrations both proved to be inaccurate.
The Government therefore has decided to distribute the tax on the basis of the following schedule which has been estimated as nearly as possible on the basis of road usage; in other words, the States that got the most use from heavy diesel trucks arc get;:_ng the most money from the tax:—
Now South Wales Victoria
Queensland
South Australia Western Australia Tasmania
Commonwealth purposes
£
800,000
700,000
500,000
325,000 475,000 150,000
50
,
000 TOTAL £3 ,000 ,000WOMINCIOCIROMICIIICOMMINCI
In introducing the Bill, the Treasureremphasised two other points. Firstly, he underlined the fact that this was an interim measure designed purely to tide the situation over until there is a general review of the whole question of Commonwealth aid to roads when the present Petrol Tax formula comes up for renewal at the end of the next financial year, that is June 1959, and he also said that he did not want the basis of the distribution of the Diesel Tax
to be used in any way to anticipate the results of the review that would take place or to be used in any way to prejudice the findings of the Committee that will be examining the situation.
/Under
-2-
Under the Ccmmonwcalth legislation as it now exists, the States as a whole roccivo £3'7M. in aid for roads which is a con-
siderable increase over the sums that wore formerly modo available.
I know casts of road building have risen vary greatly but I think it is only fair to soy that the money that has boon made available to read building bodies has also incrcasud in a much greater
proportion.
I am glad to soc that you have considerably more funds t•
spend in this financial ycor and I assume that tho £700,000 that Victoria will get from this tax will also, or some of it at least, find its way to local municipalities and shire, although the
Government has not placed any conditions on how it shall bo
distributed by the States to their various rond building bodies.
Library Digitised Collections
Author/s:
Fraser, Malcolm Title:
Diesel tax Date:
22 November 1957 Persistent Link:
http://hdl.handle.net/11343/40333 Terms and Conditions:
Copyright courtesy of Malcolm Fraser. Contact the University of Melbourne Archives for permission requests.
