Motorists should plan a temporary reduction in the fuel tax ending in September, with rising petrol prices in addition to rising pressures on the cost of living.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers says it will be “incredibly difficult” to continue the fuel tax cut indefinitely amid rising government debt and economic challenges such as high inflation and falling real wages.
“(People) should assume that petrol price relief will be turned off in September,” he told a Guardian Australia podcast.
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“Obviously, we take into account the conditions as they evolve, the budget and the rest.
“But nothing has changed substantially to make me think we could continue like this indefinitely, or even for a substantially longer period than September.”
The previous government announced a six-month cut of 22.1 ca liters for excise taxes on fuels in the March budget to help eliminate high gasoline prices driven by global oil constraints.
A motorist recharges his car at a Brisbane service station. File Image Credit: Dan Peled / AAP
In June, the national average price of unleaded gasoline reached the second highest level in history, not far from the record price recorded shortly before the federal budget.
Chalmers said the challenge posed by inflation, which hit an annual rate of 5.1 per cent in the March quarter, was “incredibly serious”, but did not believe Australia would return to a wage-price spiral. of the seventies.
“If we can get through this difficult period, no matter how long it lasts, six or twelve months, or whatever, I think our opportunities still outweigh our challenges after that, but first we have to get over this period,” he said. dit.
Chalmers said Labor planned to meet its election commitments while repairing the budget by tackling government spending wasting contractors and consultants, and raising more money in multinational taxes and charging foreign investors.
“We’re not here to occupy space or to occupy space, we’re here to be at the forefront with people about challenges and also opportunities, and to see if we can chart a path together,” he said.