Livestock transporters call for fuel relief, ag freight reform

THE Australian Livestock and Rural Transporters Association has backed the Australian Trucking Association’s call for urgent fuel tax relief, after the national average retail diesel price rose by 15.9 cents per litre in just one week.

ALRTA president Gerard Johnson said the rapid increase was placing enormous pressure on those responsible for moving livestock, grain, fertiliser, fuel and food across Australia.

“Fuel is one of the largest operating costs for a rural transport business. An increase of almost 16 cents per litre in a week cannot simply be absorbed,” Mr Johnson said.

“These costs will move through the agricultural supply chain and ultimately affect farmers, processors, regional communities and Australian families at the supermarket.”

He said the ALRTA stood with the Australian Trucking Association in support of a proposed fuel price shield, which would automatically reduce fuel excise and temporarily reduce the Heavy Vehicle Road User Charge to zero when global oil prices remain above a defined threshold.

“The ATA is right to call for a predictable and automatic response to extreme oil price shocks,” Mr Johnson said.

“Earlier this year, the federal government demonstrated that it could act by reducing fuel excise, temporarily removing the Road User Charge and increasing fuel tax credits for heavy vehicle operators.

“We are asking the government to revisit that relief immediately.”

Mr Johnson said temporary financial relief must be accompanied by immediate productivity reforms to reduce the amount of diesel required to move Australia’s agricultural freight.

“While the immediate national discussion is rightly focused on fuel-tax relief, the response cannot end in Canberra. State governments also control many of the vehicle-access and road-network decisions that determine how efficiently agricultural freight moves,” Mr Johnson said.

“If fuel costs more, every level of government must help operators use every litre as productively as possible.”

ALRTA is also calling on the federal government to prioritise an Australian Agricultural Freight Network and work with state governments to fast-track longstanding productivity proposals identified in the ALRTA National Livestock and Rural Freight Productivity Roadmap.

Mr Johnson said the fuel-price crisis was also a national food-security issue.

“Many Australians may never see the work of a livestock or rural transporter, yet every Australian depends on it,” he said.

“Our operators connect farms with saleyards, feedlots, processors, ports and supermarkets. When their fuel costs rise sharply and inefficient access rules require extra trips, the consequences reach far beyond the transport industry.

“We need immediate fuel relief, but we must also address the productivity constraints that make Australia’s food and agricultural supply chains more expensive and less resilient than they need to be.

“Now is the time for the Commonwealth and the states to prioritise the Australian agricultural freight network and approve the practical reforms industry has been requesting.”