{"id":67375,"date":"2014-05-14T05:06:15","date_gmt":"2014-05-13T19:06:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=67375"},"modified":"2020-08-31T16:16:38","modified_gmt":"2020-08-31T06:16:38","slug":"racq-slams-fuel-cash-grab","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2014\/05\/14\/racq-slams-fuel-cash-grab\/","title":{"rendered":"RACQ Slams ‘Fuel Cash Grab’"},"content":{"rendered":"

May 13, 2014<\/strong><\/p>\n

The RACQ says Queenslanders will suffer from what it has described as a “fuel cash grab” in tonight’s Federal Budget.<\/p>\n

The RACQ has called on the Federal Government to commit to a greater share of the fuel excise for Queensland roads and rail.<\/p>\n

It was revealed in the Budget that fuel excise indexation would be re-introduced twice annually from August 1.<\/p>\n

RACQ\u2019s Executive Manager Public Policy Michael Roth said this tax was a blatant cash grab.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe increase in the fuel excise will take about $40 million from Queenslanders in 2014-15, and will rise by a further $70 million each year,\u201d Mr Roth said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fuel excise raises more than $15 billion dollars annually and despite the government\u2019s commitment to roads it still siphons much of this to consolidated revenue.<\/p>\n

\u201cMotorists shouldn\u2019t be slugged again while the trucking and mining industries continue to receive subsidies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Roth said the Club welcomed the government\u2019s decision to keep its pre-election commitment to infrastructure in Queensland.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government has delivered on its earlier promises on road funding, and we commend it on that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe only wish we didn\u2019t need to cop an increase to the fuel excise in order to pay for these infrastructure projects.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Federal Government\u2019s transport commitments for Queensland include $6.7 billion over 10 years to upgrade the Bruce Highway, $1.285 billion for the Toowoomba Second Range Crossing and $16 million to fix black spots on the D\u2019Aguilar Highway.<\/p>\n