Fuel tax relief welcomed across industry

Heavy Vehicle Industry Australia (HVIA) has welcomed the Federal Government’s decision to freeze the Heavy Vehicle Road User Charge at current levels.

HVIA Chief Executive Todd Hacking says the move is another positive outcome from the collaborative work led by the Government with industry.

“Throughout this crisis the Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack and Assistant Minister for Road Safety Scott Buchholz have made themselves available to listen to industry and work through every scenario to protect our industry,” Mr Hacking said.

“The freeze of the Road User Charge will provide some relief for operators, but even more importantly clarity for their contracts with their customers.  In turn, we hope that level of assuredness will help our members.”

Deputy Prime Minister said the Federal Government would continue to help industry through these challenging times.

“The Road User Charge, which is set to recover the heavy vehicle share of road maintenance and improvements, will stay at 25.8 cents per litre for diesel in 2020-21 instead of increasing by the scheduled 2.5 per cent,” Mr McCormack said.

“Our response today demonstrates our commitment to supporting the heavy vehicle industry as we put Australia in the best position possible to deal with the COVID-19 outbreak.

“Australia’s heavy vehicle industry is crucial to sustaining our economy and distributing critical goods during the COVID-19 pandemic. This freeze will ease some of the current pressures on the industry.”

Assistant Minister for Road Safety and Freight Transport Scott Buchholz said all levels of Government are continuing to work together, along with industry and regulators such as the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator, to minimise any unnecessary barriers to freight movement.

“I have been working very closely with industry throughout this pandemic, hearing from operators large and small.

“As a Government we acknowledge the transport sector has had two speeds during this pandemic. There are those that have been working relentlessly with greater amounts of freight to move, while many other operators across the supply chain have experienced the opposite and suffered as a result of COVID-19.

“These measures go some way in demonstrating all levels of Government recognise the pressure on the transport industry at this time.”

Mr Hacking said that HVIA continues to provide up to the minute information to inform Government’s policy and stimulus response.

“Earlier this week we asked The Government to consider extending the Instant Asset Write Off Scheme to allow our industry to begiven the kick start it needs to start recovering from this crisis.  This would deliver generational safety outcomes whilst stimulating the economy.

“We are especially grateful to the Deputy Prime Minister and Assistant Minister Buchholz and their teams for making such a huge effort to keep the lines of communication open, and we look forward to continuing this productive relationship going into the future.”