The federal government has today shut down the possibility of restoring cuts to the fuel excise as renewed conflict in the Middle East causes petrol prices to climb.
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles says the federal government has no plans to cut the fuel excise, with Labor confirming the previous cuts to the 54-cent-a-litre excise were always intended to be temporary.
“We don’t have plans for it. We are watching what’s playing out in the Middle East, clearly,” he told News24 on Tuesday.
“Our focus has been in respect of ensuring fuel supply in Australia, and we’ve been able to do that from the moment that this conflict broke out.”
On April 1, the government cut the tax on fuel by 32 cents a litre for a three month period after prices soared to record levels, peaking at $2.60 for petrol and $3.27 for diesel earlier this year. The tax slowly returned in 16 cent-a-litre increments before returning in full by 2nd August, during which a ceasefire calmed global oil markets.
However, as conflict resumes, Australia is now seeing prices surge again. According to the latest monitoring by the consumer watchdog, over the last few days a litre of fuel has crept above $2 a litre in all capital cities, and diesel about $2.50.
Energy Minister Chris Bowen has reiterated that the government had no immediate plans to restore the excise cut.
“We were very clear on that right from the beginning,” he told ABC TV on Monday.
“We did extend it a bit to have it gradually return to more normal levels, that has played out, we’re not going to respond to every daily movement on the world oil price.”
Bowen’s latest update on 12 September reports that Australia has 41 days worth of petrol supply, 32 days of diesel and 30 days of jet fuel.
