Finger to the wind on extending fuel excise discount
Anthony Albanese is not yet saying ‘yes’ to extending the government’s fuel tax cut, but he is not ruling it out either.
The opposition wants to wait and see, but has reservations about this unless certain inflation offsets can be part of the equation.
The irony is that both may adopt each other’s original stance on what has become a decisive cost-of-living issue.
The government’s three-month cut in fuel duty was implemented in early April, resulting in gasoline and diesel prices being reduced by 26.3 cents per liter in response to rising prices caused by the US-led war against Iran.
The Prime Minister left the door ajar on Saturday for an extension despite advice that Australia now has a healthier fuel supply than before the conflict began in late February.
“We will make an assessment by July 1,” Mr Albanese said in Sydney.
It went on to introduce other tax cuts from the start of the new financial year that could cushion the blow if the excise tax cut is allowed to lapse.
“Of course, we will realize our first tax reduction, which is one of the five-installment tax reductions introduced by my government, on July 1,” he said.
Australia currently has 44 days worth of oil; That’s two days more than last week’s update and eight days more than the day the Iran bombing began.
The country has 36 days of diesel and 35 days of jet fuel.
Asked whether the opposition would support an extension of the excise duty cut, Shadow Finance Minister Tim Wilson said he would prefer to defer commenting until Australia’s fuel supply problem was resolved.
“We are waiting to see both the fuel supply and the global context before making a response,” he told reporters at Melbourne Airport.
“When we first had this conversation and put forward the proposal, we were confident that inflation would stabilize because we didn’t want any more borrowing oil on the inflation fire.”
The Prime Minister said Australia was “in a better position than anyone anticipated ahead of Easter”.
The country remains in level two of the government’s fuel plan, which demands users buy only what they need and take voluntary steps to use less.
The federal budget included a multibillion-dollar fuel flexibility package that included a $7.5 billion fuel and fertilizer security facility and a $3.2 billion Australian fuel security reserve.
It is designed to facilitate onshore refueling and storage of diesel and avgas for at least 50 days.
Australia has also stepped up its supply efforts with the provision of diesel cargo from three additional spot markets on Friday.
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