Ms MARTIN - 2000-10-10
Chief Minister, you and the Prime Minister promised Territorians that fuel prices would not rise under the GST, yet they have. Since you became Chief Minister, petrol has risen from around 77 per litre to $1.04 – and that is up 35%. Diesel has risen from around 75 per litre to $1.10 – that is up 47%, and Avgas has gone up by 48.5% since July 1999.
Fuel prices are crucial to Territorians in terms of lifestyle and our cost of living given their impact on freight. You told Territorians you raised the fuel price issue with the Prime Minister in discussions last week. Where are the results for Territorians? Given that you are still planning to wipe the NT’s general fuel subsidy of 1.1 per litre, did your mate John Howard send you packing?
ANSWER
Again, Mr Speaker, one could only point to the hypocrisy of the Labor Party when they talk about issues such as fuel. It was the Labor Party, as I said earlier, that introduced the indexation of fuel. It was the Labor Party that took fuel excise from 6 in the litre to 34 in the litre.
It was the Labor Party who did not agree with a new tax system in Australia. It was the Labor Party who had no answer. Tell me how the Labor Party under your rollback would have handled the diesel fuel excise? How would the Labor Party have found the 20-odd cents per litre for diesel fuel for country consumers? Pray tell!
What hypocrisy! This fool here and her leader…
Ms MARTIN: A point of order, Mr Speaker!
Mr SPEAKER: Order! The Chief Minister should withdraw the word ‘fool’.
Mr BURKE: I withdraw.
Mr Speaker, again when we talk about hypocrisy, under the coalition government - I am reporting from Hansard in the federal parliament - it is an interesting statement by the Prime Minister. He said that he had some interesting material taken out in the cost of a tank of petrol as a proportion of weekly wages over the last 30 years. It produces some very interesting analysis. It shows that under the coalition the average cost of filling a tank with petrol as a proportion of weekly wages has been about 3.8%. It also shows that under the 13 years of Labor the average was 4.5% and that 3.8% would not only probably be higher but certainly would be higher in the future if the Labor Party’s attitude towards excise on diesel fuel had prevailed.
Now this is where the Labor Party are double speaking. They try to say to consumers that they could do something about fuel prices, notwithstanding that the most powerful man in the world cannot do anything about fuel prices, but somehow the Labor Party will. Somehow the Labor Party would suggest that the federal government, John Howard, is responsible for fuel prices and would run the argument that he is responsible because of the excise on fuel when the same people who are making the allegations were responsible for introducing just that excise.
With regards to what can be done about fuel prices, the only area of influence is on excise. I raised with the Prime Minister the concern of Territorians with regards to the high price of fuel in the Northern Territory. Interestingly, the cost of fuel outside of large metropolitan centres down south is outrageous and more outrageous in many respects than the high prices we are paying even in Darwin.
I was 30km outside Canberra and the price of fuel there was $1.04 on the bowser. Now, that is a pretty outrageous price, I would think, in Canberra. People are paying those kinds of prices in southern jurisdictions, and as I said earlier, even close to Melbourne where there are two oil refineries in Melbourne and large competition. The price of fuel in Australia is outrageous at the moment. The price of fuel in the world is outrageous. Demonstrations occurring in the European Union and elsewhere is causing concern internationally. In the case of Australia, it is, as I said, simply outrageous to my mind that the Labor Party would suggest to have firstly, an answer, and secondly, to moralise on the issue because when it came to excise, they were responsible for introducing the system that has in a small part been responsible for the recent rise.
Let’s not forget, there has only been one indexation which can be levelled to an increase in excise with regards to the increased costs.
I raised with the Prime Minister the concerns of Territorians. He was quite straightforward.
Ms Martin: He said, ‘Go take that 1.1 per litre subsidy off’, that is pretty straightforward.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr BURKE: Never mentioned, actually, never even mentioned. He was quite straightforward with me. He does not believe that he has any data to show that there is a windfall gain to the Commonwealth with regard to …
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! Members opposite are being a little over the top. Order!
Mr BURKE: Well, apart from cackling, with a little bit of analysis, they would understand the fact that the amount of money attributed to the increase in excise with regards to indexation is quite low in terms of the total fuel increases, and that has to be balanced against how that indexation is then paid out because of rises in other areas. As the Prime Minister said to me - his words, not mine - ‘For every dollar of revenue related to a CPI change that comes in, $2.4 are paid out in indexation in other ways’. He believes that once he gets the data clearly in his own mind, because the real situation has only been going for about three months, and can make a clear judgment on what revenue in fact can be attributed to windfall change as related to CPI changes, then he will be in a position to make a decision. I think that is a reasonable approach.
Fuel prices are crucial to Territorians in terms of lifestyle and our cost of living given their impact on freight. You told Territorians you raised the fuel price issue with the Prime Minister in discussions last week. Where are the results for Territorians? Given that you are still planning to wipe the NT’s general fuel subsidy of 1.1 per litre, did your mate John Howard send you packing?
ANSWER
Again, Mr Speaker, one could only point to the hypocrisy of the Labor Party when they talk about issues such as fuel. It was the Labor Party, as I said earlier, that introduced the indexation of fuel. It was the Labor Party that took fuel excise from 6 in the litre to 34 in the litre.
It was the Labor Party who did not agree with a new tax system in Australia. It was the Labor Party who had no answer. Tell me how the Labor Party under your rollback would have handled the diesel fuel excise? How would the Labor Party have found the 20-odd cents per litre for diesel fuel for country consumers? Pray tell!
What hypocrisy! This fool here and her leader…
Ms MARTIN: A point of order, Mr Speaker!
Mr SPEAKER: Order! The Chief Minister should withdraw the word ‘fool’.
Mr BURKE: I withdraw.
Mr Speaker, again when we talk about hypocrisy, under the coalition government - I am reporting from Hansard in the federal parliament - it is an interesting statement by the Prime Minister. He said that he had some interesting material taken out in the cost of a tank of petrol as a proportion of weekly wages over the last 30 years. It produces some very interesting analysis. It shows that under the coalition the average cost of filling a tank with petrol as a proportion of weekly wages has been about 3.8%. It also shows that under the 13 years of Labor the average was 4.5% and that 3.8% would not only probably be higher but certainly would be higher in the future if the Labor Party’s attitude towards excise on diesel fuel had prevailed.
Now this is where the Labor Party are double speaking. They try to say to consumers that they could do something about fuel prices, notwithstanding that the most powerful man in the world cannot do anything about fuel prices, but somehow the Labor Party will. Somehow the Labor Party would suggest that the federal government, John Howard, is responsible for fuel prices and would run the argument that he is responsible because of the excise on fuel when the same people who are making the allegations were responsible for introducing just that excise.
With regards to what can be done about fuel prices, the only area of influence is on excise. I raised with the Prime Minister the concern of Territorians with regards to the high price of fuel in the Northern Territory. Interestingly, the cost of fuel outside of large metropolitan centres down south is outrageous and more outrageous in many respects than the high prices we are paying even in Darwin.
I was 30km outside Canberra and the price of fuel there was $1.04 on the bowser. Now, that is a pretty outrageous price, I would think, in Canberra. People are paying those kinds of prices in southern jurisdictions, and as I said earlier, even close to Melbourne where there are two oil refineries in Melbourne and large competition. The price of fuel in Australia is outrageous at the moment. The price of fuel in the world is outrageous. Demonstrations occurring in the European Union and elsewhere is causing concern internationally. In the case of Australia, it is, as I said, simply outrageous to my mind that the Labor Party would suggest to have firstly, an answer, and secondly, to moralise on the issue because when it came to excise, they were responsible for introducing the system that has in a small part been responsible for the recent rise.
Let’s not forget, there has only been one indexation which can be levelled to an increase in excise with regards to the increased costs.
I raised with the Prime Minister the concerns of Territorians. He was quite straightforward.
Ms Martin: He said, ‘Go take that 1.1 per litre subsidy off’, that is pretty straightforward.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr BURKE: Never mentioned, actually, never even mentioned. He was quite straightforward with me. He does not believe that he has any data to show that there is a windfall gain to the Commonwealth with regard to …
Members interjecting.
Mr SPEAKER: Order! Members opposite are being a little over the top. Order!
Mr BURKE: Well, apart from cackling, with a little bit of analysis, they would understand the fact that the amount of money attributed to the increase in excise with regards to indexation is quite low in terms of the total fuel increases, and that has to be balanced against how that indexation is then paid out because of rises in other areas. As the Prime Minister said to me - his words, not mine - ‘For every dollar of revenue related to a CPI change that comes in, $2.4 are paid out in indexation in other ways’. He believes that once he gets the data clearly in his own mind, because the real situation has only been going for about three months, and can make a clear judgment on what revenue in fact can be attributed to windfall change as related to CPI changes, then he will be in a position to make a decision. I think that is a reasonable approach.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016