IN response to an article on proposed increases to road user charges submitted by the shadow minister for infrastructure and transport, Warren Truss, published in the North Queensland Register on June 28, Minister Anthony Albanese sent a statement saying "the leader of the Nationals has no shame".
"Warren Truss' attempt to disallow proposed changes to the road user charges shows the Coalition has reached new lows of deception," the statement said.
"The policy of full cost recovery, along with the formula used to determine the road user charge which is paid by trucking operators, was first put in place by the former Howard government and the then transport minister Mark Vaile, who at the time was also the leader of the National Party.
"Mark Vaile, in announcing the policy in 2007 said:
"'We endorsed the need to implement a phased approach to the reform of heavy vehicle charging arrangements.
"'The National Transport Commission will develop a new heavy vehicle charges determination to be implemented from July 1, 2008.
"'The new determination will aim to recover the heavy vehicles' allocated infrastructure costs in total, and will also aim to remove cross-subsidisation across heavy vehicle classes.'
"Supported by all Coalition State governments, the latest annual adjustment simply reflects the fact that this Labor Government has more than doubled the federal roads budget," Mr Albanese said.
"It's astonishing that we've now reached the absurd situation whereby the federal coalition is criticising us for having done nothing more than retaining and implementing their policy.
"If Mr Truss truly believes what he's now claiming, then why as a senior cabinet minister in the former government did he support the policy which we are now simply implementing?
"As well as extra spending on the nation's highways, the trucking industry and the people who work in it will also benefit from the following Labor reforms:
- Replacement of the existing array of costly and confusing State-based regulations with a national regulator and one set of nationwide laws.
- Creation of the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal with the powers to set pay and conditions to make sure drivers get a fair go (began on July 1).
- Establishment of the Heavy Vehicle Safety and Productivity Program, the first of its kind at the federal level, which is funding projects aimed at improving safety and productivity for the heavy vehicle industry.