[Peakoil] Fw: Budget: Increase petrol taxes Fuel Tax Escalator

[Jenny Goldie]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Bruce Robinson 
To: bruce.robinson at aspo-australia.org.au 
Sent: Friday, May 04, 2012 11:11 AM
Subject: Budget: Increase petrol taxes Fuel Tax Escalator


Budget:  Petrol taxes should be increased each year to prepare us for Peak Oil

Budget News Release.

4th May 2012  

 

Fuel taxes should be steadily raised to European levels and beyond to help achieve the budget surplus,  Bruce Robinson, convenor of the Australian Association for the Study of Peak Oil said today.

 

We should increase fuel taxes by 10c or 5c every year, following the lead of Margaret Thatcher.  She put Britain on a fuel tax escalator in 1988, with regular annual increases in fuel tax for over a decade.

 

A fuel tax escalator would firstly warn Australians to prepare for future oil shortages, which are very likely to occur soon.  Most of the world's giant oilfields are starting their decline.

 

The International Energy Agency reports an average decline rate of 6.7% pa in oil-fields which have already passed their peak.  The IEA says the world will need to find additional production equal to six Saudi Arabias to meet demand to 2030.  This is almost certain to be impossible.

 

Secondly, the increased tax would provide the desperately needed funds for hospitals and public transport.

 

Increasing fuel taxes will also help reduce car usage and congestion, substantially reduce our road toll in the long term and provide the funds to improve services in regional and outer urban areas where automobile dependence is now very high..

 

If we wait for world oil prices to rise sharply before making adjustments, all the extra costs will be exported to the oil producing countries, rather than remaining in Australia to fund essential services, and we will not be able to prepare in time.

 

Already, 80% of the fuel used in Australian vehicles is imported, either directly or as imported crude oil.  Our oil vulnerability is very high indeed, and will get worse as Peak Oil approaches and Australian oil production continues to decline.

 

ASPO-Australia also urges the abolition of, the indefensible car-use subsidies of the Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT)

 

For further information see www.ASPO-Australia.org.au or contact Bruce Robinson on 08-9384-7409    0427 398 708   Bruce.Robinson at ASPO-Australia.org.au

 

 

 

Bruce Robinson

Convenor, ASPO-Australia

Australian Association for the Study of Peak Oil & Gas. 

www.ASPO-Australia.org.au

Bruce.Robinson at ASPO-Australia.org.au

Skype   Bruce-ASPO

 

2 Barsden St,

Cottesloe  WA  6011

Western Australia

61-8-9384-7409     mobile 0427 398 708