Another bumper year for Australian agriculture Industry bodies reject charging increase

The ATA has come out strongly in support of putting truck charges on hold for 2023-24, lodging a submission to the National Transport Commission’s Heavy Vehicle Charges Consultation Report.

In December 2022, Australia’s transport ministers agreed to move to a three year pricing period for truck charges. The NTC followed up with a consultation report that looked at increasing charges by either six or 10 per cent per year for three years.

The ATA does not support either option. Instead, our submission argues that charges should be frozen in 2023-24, and that they should then increase by 2.75 per cent per year.

The submission also calls for a lower remote area road user charge on fuel set at half the national road user charge rate. This would save remote area trucking operators an extra 13.6 cents per litre.

The Australian Livestock and Rural Transporters Association (ALRTA) also rejected a proposal by an Infrastructure and Transport Ministers Meeting to increase heavy vehicle charges by between 6 – 10 per cent in each of the next three years. ALRTA has instead recommended 3 per cent increases commencing 2023-24.

In a submission to the National Transport Commission, ALRTA has argued that:

• COVID stimulus measures involving rushed or ill-considered projects should not be included in the cost-base;

• Road repairs relating to floods and bushfires should not be included in the cost-base. Trucks have not caused this damage and should not be required to pay;

• Road expenditure figures supplied by state and local governments to NTC are not substantiated or subject to third party audit;

• Industry is not consulted on road works;

• Road works are often of poor quality delivering sub-standard pavements and ongoing maintenance costs. Roads that should last 20-25 years are only lasting weeks or months.

The gross value of Australian Agricultural production for 2022-23 is forecast to be $85 billion – just shy of the record set last year. Not a bad effort given the widespread flooding affecting production and transport right around Australia.

ABARES latest Agricultural Commodities and Crop Reports indicates that the winter crop will be the second largest on record at over 62 million tonnes. Livestock production is steady with an estimated value of $34 billion.

Given these factors and the high inflation environment, ALRTA believes that necessary charging increases should be levied at a more moderate 3 per cent.

ALRTA has also reminded governments that, in 2014, Ministers flatly refused to implement an NTC recommendation to decrease charges by 6.3 per cent. If Ministers can’t swallow a 6 per cent adjustment in single year, how is it fair for industry to swallow three six per cent adjustments in a row?

With commodity prices remaining relatively high, agricultural exports values are expected to break all-time records with a combined value of over $72 billion.