The Greens’ hypocritical backflip over the Budget’s re-indexation of fuel excise, which saw the party shift its official position from supporting the measure to opposing it unless the funds were spent on public transport, continues to divide the party, with The Canberra Times reporting that the Greens’ New South Wales branch has called on the party’s national council to intervene to reverse its stance, placing leader, Christine Milne, under intense pressure:
A motion will be put to a national council meeting this month and comes after NSW branch members advocated a change in the party’s position on Saturday.
One party source said that if restoration of fuel excise was not put to the Senate during this sitting of Parliament, the NSW party could use its August meeting to compel NSW senator Lee Rhiannon to cross the floor and vote in favour of the fuel tax hike.
…party members… believe the Greens should be supporting higher costs for fuel.
Being someone that advocates sound policy over political expedience, I have found the internal backlash against the Greens’ opposition to fuel excise re-indexation immensely gratifying, even if it is not surprising.
Being a party that has always been vocal champions for an emissions trading scheme and/or a carbon tax, as well as reducing Australia’s dependence on fossil fuels, the Greens’ opposition to raising the price of automotive fuel was always hypocritical and incoherent policy. After all, how could the Greens credibly lament the impacts of “dangerous climate change” while opposing the re-indexation of fuel excise, so that the tax on fuel keeps up with inflation?
As argued previously, there are also sound budgetary reasons to raise fuel excise, including broadening the tax base away from income tax and improving overall taxation efficiency, in addition to the obvious environmental benefits. It would also go some way to closing the $5 billion Budget hole left by the Howard Government when it stupidly froze fuel excise indexation in 2001.
Moreover, as argued last week, nor is the Greens opposition to the re-indexation of fuel excise on the grounds that the funds raised are to be hypothecated back into to road funding particularly credible. The Abbott Government’s pledge to spend the extra revenue on roads is likely just a budgetary accounting trick designed to make re-indexation more politically saleable to the public. Actual road investment is unlikely to increase much (if at all) due to re-indexation, with the source of the funding instead transferred out of consolidated revenue an onto fuel excise, freeing up consolidated revenue to fund other Commonwealth programs.
By playing politics instead of embracing a sensible measure that aligns with the party’s own philosophies, the Greens leadership deserves to be lambasted by its membership until it supports fuel excise re-indexation.
