The Australian Automobile Association is calling for greater federal government investment into land transport in the upcoming budget.
The AAA’s budget submission wants the Morrison government to tip more of the $12 million generated from fuel excise into a dedicated fund to improve road safety, congestion and affordability.
The association says with just 100 days to go before the federal election and motorists continuing to pay 41.6 cents per litre of petrol, chief executive Michael Bradley is asking the Liberal-National coalition, Labor, the Greens and Independents to commit to a ten-year land transport infrastructure programme.
“Our transport system’s failure to keep up with growing demand is harming our economy and our quality of life,” he says.
“Every year, congestion increases, the nation’s infrastructure backlog grows, transport costs rise, and governments miss important road safety targets.”
According to the AAA’s member survey, 85% of people think the government should invest more in roads, road safety and public transport, given that driving a car is still the most common form of transport and that 38% say their car is ‘extremely important’ to them.
In the same survey, 73% of people think all fuel excise revenue from should be reinvested into transport, and roughly one in five people spends more than three hours per week sitting in traffic congestion – one in ten spends over six hours in the bump and grind.
The AAA is concerned Australian drivers will cough up $60 billion in federal transport tax – including GST, insurance and fuel excise – yet receive minimal returns and “are not getting value for money.”
“In the lead-up to the federal election and the budget, politicians need to understand that Australian motorists bring their own money to the table,” he says.
The AAA says Australian car buyers will contribute more than $5.1 billion in Luxury Car Tax and vehicle tariffs this year alone, and “only $22 billion will be returned in the form of land transport infrastructure”.
“Australia’s motoring clubs want at least half of money raised from this tax invested into land transport,” says Bradley.
“Transport investment is good economics – analysis shows that returns from transport investment are greater than the costs, but we can’t simply invest on an ad hoc basis,” he says.
The AAA reminds government of the 2004 Transport White Paper which needs updating, “to fix the fragmented and unfocused development and management of our national transport system.”
“In the 15 years since then our population has grown by 25 per cent and technology has changed dramatically,” says Bradley.
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