McKellar notes 2.5 per cent proposal based on outdated calculation
Australia’s governments should not increase truck road user and registration charges by more than the expected inflation rate, 1.5 per cent, in 2021-22, the Australian Trucking Association (ATA) CEO Andrew McKellar says.
McKellar’s call comes on the release of the ATA response to the governments’ proposal to increase charges by 2.5 per cent.
The government proposal would see charges rise by substantially more than inflation and more than many trucking businesses can afford, the peak body points out.
“More than a third of the trucking businesses we surveyed told us their business activity was still down compared to immediately before the bushfires and the start of the pandemic,” McKellar says.
“Trucking businesses also have great difficulty passing charge increases on to their customers.”
He highlights that the proposed increase of 2.5 per cent was based on an inflation forecast from May 2019.
“Treasury’s inflation forecast for 2021-22 is 1.5 per cent,” McKellar says.
“Truck charges should not go up by more than this forecast.”
Read McKellar’s take on the national operating standard, here
ATA is to continue arguing for measures to make charges fairer and more affordable, and to improve the cashflow of businesses.
“We need a ban on payment times longer than 30 days, the extension of price regulation to truck tolls and port access charges and changes to allow businesses to pay truck registration charges by monthly direct debit,” McKellar says.
“In addition, some ATA members have raised serious concerns about the misuse of primary producer registration concessions.”
The ATA’s submission can be found here.