New proposed tax changes for motorists
March 10, 2008 by Alborz Fallah
A new proposal put before the Federal government recommends that motorists should pay based on usage and not the one-rate-for-all system currently in place. Essentially the new system will work similarly to mobile phone plans, you pay a setup fee and then pay as you go.
Using automatic vehicle identification systems (able to read number plates) drivers will be automatically charged a special levy when they drive on congested roads, they will be charged less in non-peak periods and Toyota Prius owners and owners of other ‘environmentally friendly cars‘ would receive discounts for their ‘limited‘ impact on the environment.
The proposal has been put forward by the Australian Automobile Association, which includes Australia’s eight driver service organisations, (NRMA, RACV, RACQ…) and has already gained the endorsement of the government advisory group, the National Transport Commission.
Payments will include an “access charge” for driving via certain roads as well as a “user charge” which will act like a setup fee. The new system, if given the green light, will replace the current charges drivers pay:
- federal fuel excise,
- GST on petrol,
- state registration charges,
- stamp duty on registration and road tolls.
The exact amount motorists will be charged is yet to be determined, but given there will be no federal fuel excise, registration fee and GST on petrol, expect to pay up to a few dollars for travelling on your normal stretch of road – each day.
Factors that determine your charge include the size of the vehicle and the wear it causes roads, an environmental charge related to the size of your engine, a levy to cover the costs of crashes and congestion charges.
Sounds like in ingenious idea doesn’t it? Well it all depends on what you drive and how much you drive. The current system will charge an 80 year old grandmother who puts 5,000km/year on the odometer the same registration fee as an above-average motorists who travels over 50,000km/year.
The proposal sounds too good to be true, mainly because the money the government makes from excise on petrol is enormous. This year it is expected to raise $14.42 billion, out of which only an estimated $3.41 billion will be spent on roads.
Furthermore Australian manufacturers are sure to rally against the plan as it will put yet another strain on locally made 6/8-cylinder vehicles.
Would you agree to a pay-as-you-go system if it meant not having to pay the fuel excise and registration fee?
Print it: 
WOW TP look there is 5 Toyotas!
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not in favour of this, and I understand that everyone’s situation is different, BUT can you actually spot ANY car in that pic with more than one person?
And TP, on highway my Falcon guzzles less petrol than your old s’box Camry, oh thats right, in your narrow experience, you think that camry’s don’t leave the city, and you havn’t either. Might go and prep the caravan for the Easter exodus…….good thing I’m not stuck trying to tow it with a Camry!
TP, the day a Falcon is ever as ugly as the Camry/Aurion is the day to leave town. The Camry’Aurion biggest failing, apart from FWD, is it’s butt ugly American styling (you did know the camry is styled in the US didn’t you…….?)
No Name:
“Richo/Foggy that would never work sharing on two cars, those less than desirable types would use both cars at the same time and save themselves a small fortune.”
If they only have one pair of numberplates, then if they got caught driving without them, or they used the number plate on a car other than the two registered, then it would be the equivalent of driving an unregistered vehicle…. which many of these “undesirables” do anyway!
We just need to invent a lockable number plate holding bracket that makes switching a breeze.
Hey Foggy: how do you get bold/italic writing?
TP: because you don’t like the look of them? Um, yeah ok.
Hey! Bret! I never knew the styling of the aurion/camry was from the U.S. Hey! You learn something new every day!
And the 380 was desighned by the yanks too!
Bret, Do you mean there is 2 or more people in a car?
Oz.,
I thought it would work in a Word Document writing the sentence than highlight it then push the bold writing button.
But i tried it didnt work!
Foggy must have a special keyboard
Anthonii,
mate what i said about the businesses that have no excuse to use the road would suffer, is that they would pass it on to the consumer meaning every one hurts more for what they buy.
the same goes with the GST. people say oh poor businesses having to deal with that where as if you are in business GST is awesome. it is only the end of line consumer that actually pays GST.
so yep as you say its the poor old families.
the affects of higher charges/taxes would double its impact of what is proposed as the families have to pay for themselves and the businesses that pass on increases through higher prices for their products.
and when kevin 07 is apparently curbing inflation this would do absolutely no good for it.
the rich always get richer and the poor get poorer
good to see Duck and OZ dealing with the real problems in todays society………
QUOTE……….
“how do you get bold/italic writing?”
Foggy two sets of plates mate.
Duck, US also get to answer for the crappy Kluger style and (I think) RAV’s.
And the text formatting is done in browser software not limited by the lack of imagination of Mr Gates crew.
I’ve got a special keyboard, it works perfectly jsut teh prtat usnig ti taht cna’t tpye. He He
I dont mind the Klugers styling. But……..
Camry- No
Aurion- No
Rav4/6- No
Guess What…………………
If Toyota doesnt make the aurion RWD soon they will get big losses (specially the TRD in sales).
U know how they use falcon and Commodores as Highway Patrol Police Cars, thats understandable because they are rear wheel drive, but they do u know and i have seen Aurion police Highway patrol Police Cars. How can they? I thought it wouldnt be safe? (Because the are front wheel drive).
@No Name
You can just include inline html tags for things like bold and italic, and they will be rendered correctly by your browser.
Now, the problem with the 2 sets of plates idea, is that the “undesirables” can for the most part, get away with driving two cars on one rego, because there’s nothing immediately suspicious to the cops or the RTA…. other than their mullet! :-D
There is a difference between a squad car and a Highway patrol car and in most states now the HP cars have a rather sporty distinctive and highly visible/reflective chequered livery all over the car whereas a Squad car which remains predominantly white with nothing else but Police decals
Compared to the HP cars [mostly Falcons and Commodores] The few Aurions I have seen appear to be just regular squad cars used for call outs to domestice etc
Duck, you are right, i believe they do use the mighty Aurion super car as pursue cars on our highways today and i for one feel safer knowing they are out there.
Knowone is going to outrun an aurion as i believe that any crook making a mad dash to the border will never make it as when he looks into his rear-view mirror and sees the ECILOP hot in purchute,he would have to pull over to the side of the road in fits of laughter making easy picking for our men in blue.
Actually, i am being harsh.
Afterall, this car will do 0-100 in 1.7 seconds and uses just 4.2 l/p100 doing it. Right TP?
What a load of crap this proposal is!
Charging people who HAVE to work to earn a living more because they have to drive in peak hour. Or the people who cannot afford to buy a new car.
By the way (to that moron going on about how bad and ugly the Falcon is) my Falcon uses less fuel highway and city than the Aurion\’s which many of the people I know own. Not to mention they are an ugly car with a torqueless engine and doughy steering and not to mention catastrophic understeer with the ESP turned off. Hmm what a great car…. NOT!
Bret you obviously havent see the new Falcon… gone backwards in design, Aurion has it all over it. As for fuel effcieicny, Aurion again leads way. What exactly does the Falcon have over the Aurion? Power. No again. Dynamics? No, base model Aurion nearly beat a XR6 in wheels mag test. Come to think of it, the Falcon has nothing over the Aurion!
No TP
the falcon does have one thing…RWD :)
TP, How about that you dont have to wear a cardigan or corderoy trouser to drive a XR6!
Good one Oz!
Haha Oz, RWD… less efficiency (both fuel efficiency and power to the ground) and from the Wheels car test, slower around a track!!! Good one TP.
Eyma great call idiot, what the Falcon has is an extra big seat to sit the fat ar*s that inheritantly occupy its seats.
wheelnut,
all the police cars now exhibit fluro orange stripes to increase visibility. yep even the day to day squad car that attends domestics.
it is a new design they are phasing in. here in QLD prob 90% of what i see around are already sporting the new paint schemes, and from what ive seen on the news and those police shows Qld isnt the only one adopting the new louder desings.
Hey TP,
Why dont you change your name back to Toyota Paul?
And some police cars are red with the normal blue and white checkered strip across the car.
TP, But RWD is safer than FWD!
Personally i think toyota is a bit soft on their sporty aurion styling!
Wheelnut,
I still see a few aurion Highway Patrol cars.
Didn’t they used to have Subaru Impreza WRX sedans in the Victoria Police Force, but now they stopped using them for some reason.
“Andrew M Says:
Anthonii,
mate what i said about the businesses that have no excuse to use the road would suffer”
No comment to you at all mate, all i was saying, which is in tune with yours is. Business don’t care, Families get stung.
Gee Wiz Duck, You spoiled the secret. I doubt anyone had Guessed that the t in TP stood for Toyota!
We need an edit feature…
What i was trying to say was, that my comment was not in reference to yours Andrew, i was simply ranting about who this hurts and how they are all ready hurting.
TP: look at what Duck said, “TP, But RWD is safer than FWD!”
And that is something the Falcon has over the CamAurion!
Eyma Teapot, yep that was his name, Toyota Paul…Until he got banned for 24 hours by the site author, Alborz.
OZ, What did TP do to get banned.
He wasnt seen test driving a Falcon XR6 at his local Ford dealer was he?
ROFL!!!
I think you should know, look at the arguments in older Toyota articles. e.g. “Toyota beats holden and ford combined”.
[b]Bold[/b] Just testing
:? Damn it doesn’t work
Oz, use the to enclose your tags, that’s true html, not this forum [b] crap!
Damn, it removed the “greater than” and “less than” symbols from my last post! :-(
“use the to enclose your tags”
?
Ha Ha you guys make me laugh. Is that the same stuff that comes up when you formatting in the forum? Test it there then.
if they do this, why dont they charge fat people more for going on airplanes. i mean they are going to have to burn more fuel to carry a 120kg person rather than a 60kg person. yet the air plane ticket price is the same.
Actually TP there is plenty that the Falcon has over the Aurion. 1. Torque – 383nm at 2500rpm VS 336nm at 4700rpm! This means incase you are not sharp enough to realise that you have to rev the Aurion harder to get it properly moving than the Falcon and in doing so using more fuel. 2. By the way ADR fuel test figures are crap and you should not base arguments on them. The sticker on my Falcon says 11.4L/100km but I can tell you that I ALWAYS get better than that even in the city. And lastly on more than 1 occasion motoring jurno’s have called the Aurion (of all variants I might add) a one trick pony “Fast in a straight line but atrocious through corners.” Unless you have driven both I suggest you keep your one eyed opinions to yourself. And before you say it, I have driven both and definately know which one I prefer because after all if I liked the Aurion I would have bought one.
WILDB, you have clearly never driven in a real city. The only street in the the town with a traffic light doesn’t count. You do not get 11.4L/100km if you do much inner-city driving in any major city (Sydney, Melb, Brisbane – not Adelaide, traffic there is actually very good). Simple fact for you. Two Falcons in the family, 1 averages 14.2 (BFII), mostly city driving, the other (AUIII) averages about the same, with a bit more suburban driving on top of the city traffic.