The Canberra press pack has worked themselves into a lather today after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was unable to say how much a gram of coke was on the FM radio show Wazza and the Spanker. ”It just goes to... Read More ›
petrol
No one likes paying A$1.80 per litre for petrol. But amid forecasts of prices climbing to $2.10 as Russian’s invasion of Ukraine drags on, it’s possible some good could come of that pain – including greater energy independence and a faster path to net-zero emissions.
Two months ago, at the start of 2022, the typical Sydney and Melbourne unleaded price was $1.60 a litre. A year earlier, at the start of 2021, it was $1.20.
Cutting petrol tax to bring down the cost of living used to be the political version of a joke. Failed US presidential candidates John McCain and Hillary Clinton both tried it in 2008. Their bipartisan advocacy of a “summer gas tax holiday” was derided as dumb, a turkey and a “metaphor for the entire campaign”.
When 230 economists released a letter opposing it in 2008, Clinton said: “I’ll tell you what, I’m not going to put my lot in with economists”.
Overwhelmingly, Australia’s top economists would rather the budget funds measures to cut carbon emissions than cuts income tax or company tax.
They are also dead against rumoured cuts to petrol tax and the tax on beer.
The Conversation’s pre-budget survey of a panel of 46 leading economists selected by the Economic Society of Australia finds almost half want a budget deficit smaller than the A$99.2 billion expected for 2021-22 and the $98.9 billion forecast for 2022-23 in the December budget update.