Despite promising no new or increased taxes before the last election, Tony Abbott is making Australians pay more petrol tax.
The Abbott Government snuck this tax hike through, bypassing Parliament to ensure the petrol tax goes up and up and up.
The indexation of the petrol tax to CPI by the Abbott Government means Australians will pay around $19 billion more for petrol over the next decade.
Within the next five years, the average Australian will be paying an extra $135 for petrol every single year because of this new tax from Tony Abbott.
Australians are already struggling to make ends meet with the cost of living – the last thing they need is to pay more tax every time they fill up the car.
The regressive nature of the tax means low and middle income Australians will be hardest hit by the increasing petrol tax with a greater proportion of their income now going towards filling up the car.
Research from The Australia Institute shows that the poorest 20 per cent of households spend about three times the proportion of their income on fuel (4.45 per cent) than do those in the richest 20 per cent (1.37 per cent).
Australians in rural and regional areas and running small businesses will also be particularly hard hit by Tony Abbott’s increasing petrol tax.
No amount of spin from the Abbott Government will change the impact of this increasing tax on the cost of living – not even the Treasurer suggestion that poor people don’t drive cars -
“The poorest people either don’t have cars or actually don’t drive very far in many cases. But, they are opposing what is meant to be, according to the Treasury, a progressive tax.”
TREASURER JOE HOCKEY – ABC LOCAL RADIO BRISBANE – 13 AUGUST 2014
Tony Abbott promised that -
“Taxes will always be lower under a Coalition government.”
TONY ABBOTT – PRESS CONFERENCE – 6 AUGUST 2013
From today, every Australian who drives a car will pay for Tony Abbott's broken promise from their own pocket.
MONDAY, 10 NOVEMBER 2014
MEDIA CONTACT: LEADER’S OFFICE MEDIA UNIT 6277 4053