While petrol has dropped below $2 a litre in recent days, the fuel excise discount has been extended until the end of July. Photo: James Coleman.
The Federal Government has extended the fuel excise discount and the reduction to the Heavy Vehicle Road User Charge for an extra month, until the end of July.
The 21 June announcement comes after the US and Iran signed an MoU last week to cease hostilities across the Strait of Hormuz, which has been cautiously welcomed locally, despite events over the weekend appearing to put that agreement in jeopardy.
The 16-cent-a-litre fuel excise discount is half the 32-cent-a-litre discount applied in March and is expected to save motorists an average of $11 per tank.
The Federal Government acknowledged the contribution of the States and Territories to use GST revenue to fund a 5.7 per cent portion of the fuel excise since March, and says it will seek additional support at July’s National Cabinet meeting.
It says the extension of the excise discount recognises that, if peace talks are successful, economic and fuel stability will take time to recover. It says the reduced discount, combined with ongoing efforts to source fuel from non-traditional sources, provides a graduated return to normal fuel excise settings.
“There is uncertainty on the global markets, and there’s uncertainty because of the decision to reopen the Strait of Hormuz,” Mr Albanese said on Friday (19 June)
“We welcome the de-escalation, but it doesn’t mean that it immediately opens. There is a great deal of uncertainty about how long it will take before normal trade resumes.”
A joint 21 June statement from the Prime Minister, Treasurer Jim Chalmers, Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen, and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government Catherine King said, “We’ll continue to do what we can to shield Australians from the worst impacts of this conflict, including securing additional fuel from our partners.
“Despite the welcome and substantial drop in the price of petrol recently, we recognise people are still under pressure.
“This extra month of fuel discount will help Australian motorists and businesses with the cost of living as this support tapers off.”
Since March, the Government has allocated nearly $2.9 billion to the fuel excise discount program and $7.5 billion to the Fuel and Fertiliser Security Facility to support additional supply and storage.
An additional $3.2 billion has been allocated to establish the Australian Fuel Security Reserve, bringing Australia’s total diesel and jet fuel stocks to 50 days.
The cost of the extra month’s fuel excise cut and the reduction in the Heavy Vehicle Road User Charge is estimated at $400 million.
On Friday, Minister Bowen said Australia currently has 44 days of petrol in reserve, eight days more than when the war started in February. There are also 39 days of diesel and 32 days of jet fuel available, which are seven and three days more, respectively, than before the war.
Mr Bowen said there are currently 51 ships “on the way” to Australia with fuel, with 3.9 billion litres of fuel contracted to arrive in the next four weeks.
Mr Albanese said he isn’t expecting people to stock up on fuel again as the excise discount cutoff approaches.
“We would hope that people continue to respond in a responsible way, and that is what we have seen,” he said
“Prior to my address to the nation just before Easter, we were seeing a spike in demand that was causing real pressure and shortages, particularly in some regional areas.
“Now we have run a campaign, ‘Every little bit helps’, and Australians have done their bit to see Australia through what has been a global fuel crisis.”
Original Article published by Andrew McLaughlin on PS News.
