Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Yes, thank you for pointing that out. My comments relate to page 5 of the government's October 2014 red tape repeal documents, table 1c, the summary of key regulatory costs reported or announced since September 2013, the line item which talks about the resuming of the indexation of the fuel excise to the consumer price index. So I am speaking to the documents which are being talked about in relation to these bills. I have just outlined the fuel excise to consumer price index increase, what it will cost petrol stations and also what it will cost Victorian motorists, particularly those on low incomes.

The fuel excise increase will in fact hit low-income earners the hardest. The percentage of their household income spent on petrol will increase due to the extra that they will have to pay. Lower income groups tend to live in the outer suburbs and regional areas because housing is more affordable. As a result, however, their transport costs will increase. This is kind of simple mathematics; if you live further out because it is cheaper, it is only natural to assume that you will have to pay more to get into town to get to work, to drop your children off at school or to get around. Infrastructure has not caught up with these areas yet. The public transport has not been built or the state or federal governments have no plan to build the public transport so that these households and families have the opportunity to have a viable public transport option. All they can do is rely on their car, and that is the problem when this government increases the excise on petrol. It hits those in the outer suburbs and the regional people disproportionately. It hits them the hardest because they do not have the opportunity to take public transport.

The public transport debate is something that we have seen this government turn a blind eye to. They are not interested in doing their bit to invest in public transport—

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