Fuel excise cut for three months as PM announces national fuel plan

The Albanese government will halve the fuel excise for the next three months, lowering the levy placed on petrol by 26.3¢ a litre.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also announced that the heavy vehicle road user charge would be axed for the same amount of time, in a move he said would “help truckies continue their vital work for our nation”. Any change to the heavy vehicle charge – 32.4 cents per litre on diesel – will also be deferred for six months.

Changes to the charges will come into effect on Wednesday of this week. The move comes after the Coalition demanded the excise cut on Friday.

“We’re making fuel cheaper today because we understand that Australians are under serious pressure,” Albanese said.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said reductions in government taxes on petrol were designed to take “some of the sting” out of fuel prices sent skyrocketing by the war in the Middle East. He said it would result in a $19 reduction in the cost of filling a 65-litre petrol tank, and cost the budget an estimated $2.55 billion.

“This is timely. This is targeted. This is responsible cost-of-living relief to help people get through a difficult period. And we don’t choose these circumstances that are being inflicted on us by events on the other side of the world,” Chalmers said.

“But we do choose how we respond, in a cooperative way with the states and territories and also doing what we can to deal with or take some of the sting out of these cost-of-living pressures,” he said.

“This relief is temporary. It’s timely and it’s responsible. It’s all about taking some of the edge off these high petrol prices, which are putting such extraordinary pressure on household budgets right around the country.”

In Monday’s national cabinet meeting the states and territories also agreed to a National Fuel Security Plan with the federal government, which Albanese said would give Australians confidence that the fuel supply crisis was being managed.

Albanese said the plan had four stages: “plan and prepare”; “keeping Australia moving”; “taking targeted action”; and “protecting critical services for all Australians”. He said that the country was currently at the second stage.

More to come

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