Independent candidate for Mallee Sophie Baldwin said she feared regional areas faced a massive productivity hit if the Federal Government failed to intervene and address rising fuel prices.

Ms Baldwin said Canberra decision-makers’ response to the issue were ‘again’ struggling to grasp the distances regional families needed to cover daily – from taking children to school, sport and extracurricular activities to needing to move farming machinery and trucks.

“Many residents of Mallee are forced to travel long distances, every day, simply to access basic services or work opportunities,” she said.

“And right now, our farmers must be having nightmares when they compare the current price of fuel with the budgets they would have put in place months ago. 

“They are about to begin sowing the crops that will decide their ongoing financial viability; but with fuel costs rising almost daily, farming profit margins are being eroded at an alarming speed.

“Instead of endless announcements and pre-election pay-offs we need to see real action to reduce the cost of fuel and other inputs that should be seen as essential supplies across rural areas.”

Ms Baldwin said Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced his government would cut taxes on alcohol, ‘but not a word about cutting the massive taxes on every litre of fuel used in this country’.

“Currently the federal excise on fuel is 44.2 cents. Put $100 of fuel in your tank and $44.20 of that goes straight to Canberra. And on top of that the 10 per cent GST is also built into the equation,” she said.

“An immediate short-term removal of the fuel excise would provide equally-immediate relief at the bowser. 

“The excuses being tossed up about why the tax must remain, such as road construction and maintenance, are as ridiculous as they are pathetic.

“Rising fuel costs are a threat to our regional economy right now, today. And they have a disproportionate impact on vulnerable people and put further financial pressures on an already stressed community still trying to recover from the impacts of two years of lockdown.”

Review

Ms Baldwin said Productivity Commission undertook a review of Australia’s vulnerable supply chains in 2021. 

“However, in its wisdom, the commission deliberately excluded fuel supplies and other key agricultural inputs on the grounds the vulnerabilities of our food, and food supply-
chains, were not part of the review as it was unlikely Australians would face a food shortage,” she said.

“Less than 12 months later this narrow minded unwillingness to understand the pressures across rural and regional Australia has never been more damning.

“Last year Canberra tossed $1.8-billion at our last two refineries to stay open – we used to have eight that covered the whole country’s supply – that’s a lot of 44.2 cents that could be saved from the pockets of everyday drivers.”

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