The Greens’ and Labor’s blocking of fuel excise re-indexation has been dealt another blow by The Conversation’s Paul Burke and Vlado Vivoda, who have posted research showing that Australian petrol taxes are the fourth lowest in the 32 Member OECD:
The International Energy Agency publishes quarterly reports on unleaded petrol prices and taxes. The latest report surveyed petrol prices in the first quarter of 2014 in 32 countries. As you can see above, the report found that only three countries – Mexico, the United States and Canada – have lower petrol taxes than Australia.
In fact, Australia is one of only ten countries surveyed where taxes make up less than 50% of the price. While the figure for Australia stands at 34%, in some European countries taxes account for 60% of the cost of petrol at the bowser.
The Greens’ and Labor’s continual opposition to fuel excise re-indexation, whilst lamenting “dangerous climate change” and seeking to reduce Australia’s dependence on fossil fuels, is the height of hypocrisy and inconsistent policy making.
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness.
Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.
