The revelations that the Morrison government will again delay an inquiry into road pricing shows they are willing to jeopardise sound transport policy and planning in favour of clinging to power, say the Australian Greens.
“The road pricing inquiry was announced three years ago and we’ve had zero movement since then,” said Senator Janet Rice, Australian Greens transport spokesperson.
“As Australians make the switch to electric vehicles, we will need new streams of revenue to fund our transport systems. We need to ensure the proper work is done in preparation now, so that any road pricing regime or other revenue raising is not only in the public interest, but also equitable and just.”
“We also need to consider the intersection of road pricing with the increasing use of private toll roads where the revenue is going straight into the pockets of the private toll roads operators, particularly Transurban, which has just announced record earnings.”
“Road pricing and fuel excise is an area the government has acknowledged could take 10-15 years to reform. This inquiry has been on the cards since 2016. We need to get on with it now, we can’t wait any longer for a time when it’s politically convenient for the government of the day.”
“Road pricing isn’t something we can leave to the last minute.”
