Commercialisation of the Australian road system will not be as simple as commercialising former public utilities such as power generation. Much more attention needs to be directed at practical issues of implementing such arrangements. [from Summary 6, A Conceptual Framework for the Reform of Taxes Related to Roads and Transport, June 2009]
On the NSW North Coast we have limited access to air, sea or rail freight and so are dependant on state and national road systems being used to supply us with many of life's necessities.
The purchase price of these necessities are frequently higher in regional areas because of added transport costs.
This same limited transportation also means that more of our personal and business travel is conducted on the east coast road network and fuel costs possibly impact more heavily on rural and regional households than they do on metropolitan households.
When Australia's Future Tax System Review Panel released a paper on 13 August 2009 titled A Conceptual Framework for the Reform of Taxes Related to Roads and Transport it is of direct interest to our local communities:
This report concentrates on road transport and the supply of road services. Section 1 provides background to the general tax‐transfer policy problems that arise in relation to road transport; Section 2 discusses partial and general equilibrium methodology issues; Section 3 discusses excises on fuels and other vehicle‐related charges; Section 4 discusses congestion and pollution‐related transport externalities; Section 5 singles out traffic accident and insurance externalities; Section 6 deals with road capital and maintenance issues; Section 7 considers general equilibrium and double dividend issues; Section 8 briefly considers rail, taxi, air services and shipping issues. Section 9 synthesises the main policy issues raised.
PDF download here.
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