Australian motorists took a hit this week at the service station following an increase in the fuel excise – the bi-annual increase on Monday, in line with the Consumer Price Index, saw the fuel excise rise from 48.8 cents per litre to 49.6 cents per litre – putting further pressure on household budgets. In the 2021-22 Federal budget the fuel excise represented 3.2 per cent of total revenue amounting to $18.2 billion dollars. Fuel excise revenue is for the most part applied to road infrastructure programs, however only 68 per cent was actually spent on roads in the 2021-22 financial year. The Government has indicated it is now considering a tax on plug-in hybrid and battery electric cars, that in January represented 17.4 per cent of total sales, to recoup lost revenue from fuel excise which most petrol and diesel car owners would consider more than fair.

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