FED: Govt accused of indexed profiteering on petrol

AAP General News (Australia)
02-01-2001
FED: Govt accused of indexed profiteering on petrol

SYDNEY, Feb 1 AAP - Motorists, truckies and farmers today attacked the latest indexed
petrol tax rises, accusing the federal government of jeopardising jobs with blatant profiteering.

Victoria's RACV called for an immediate end to indexation of the petrol excise, which
added about 1.7 cents a litre to the pump price.

RACV said petrol prices would be an election issue.

The RACQ said federal government policies had contributed to a $10 increase in the
cost of filling the average car in Queensland last year.

It said price hikes were mainly caused by higher world oil prices and a weak Australian dollar.

But the government had made a major contribution to high prices, with the introduction
of the GST and its twice-yearly automatic indexation.

Sydney prices skyrocketed 10 cents a litre overnight but the Service Stations Association
said this had nothing to do with the tax hike.

The association said oil companies had been heavily discounting prices by up to 10
cents and predicted a return to $1 a litre levels before long.

The Transport Workers Union said it was an "absolute disgrace" for the federal government
to benefit from the inflationary impact of the GST.

Repossession of vehicles in the trucking industry had risen by 176 per cent in the
12 months to July last year, it said.

Thousands in the transport industry were already struggling to make ends meet, NSW
TWU secretary Tony Sheldon said.

"Long-distance truck drivers, country couriers, small fleet owners, taxi drivers and
their families will face the choice of working even longer hours and pushing themselves
over the edge or getting out of the industry in the next few months," he said.

The National Farmers Federation said the government could afford to freeze today's
hike, which had taken fuel taxes to record levels.

Rural communities were suffering because of high fuel prices while the government reaped
a taxation windfall, NFF president Ian Donges said.

AAP dc/mjm/sb

KEYWORD: PETROL REACTION NIGHTLEAD

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