Rare Consulting, a consultancy that has done carbon tax analysis for transport and energy concerns, has cast doubt on the likelihood that road haulage will end up losing increasing amounts of diesel due to the reform.
By Rob McKay | January 24, 2012
Rare Consulting, a consultancy that has done carbon tax analysis for transport and energy concerns, has cast doubt on the likelihood that road haulage will end up losing increasing amounts of diesel due to the reform.
The company has made several public presentations, most recently for the Victorian Freight and Logistics Council, where Senior Consultant Bahador Tari has described road haulage’s inclusion as “likely to be politically difficult”
Rare points to the second Bill needed to reduce fuel tax credits coming after the next election, when nothing short of Labor relying only on the Greens to hold power is likely to guarantee the move, given that it is unpopular amongst independents and the Coalition has promised to kill it.
With supermarkets forced to pass costs on in the face of large transport operators unwilling to swallow increased fuel costs and the Federal Government promising compensation to households for cost increases, there is an added Budget-focused disincentive in the policy mix.
“That would seem to be strategically difficult as well as politically difficult,” Rare CEO Mark McKenzie tells ATN.
“Our view is that it should always have been included from the start.”