Support for emissions trading proposal

The ATA has confirmed its support for the Australian Government’s proposals on how to deal with transport fuels in its emissions trading scheme. A meeting of the ATA’s General Council saw members endorse a submission in response to the Government’s Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme Green Paper.

Importantly, the green paper proposals do not require trucking companies to buy carbon permits although the Government has indicated it will work to allow flexible arrangements to give larger trucking companies the option to do so.

Carbon permits are to be purchased by fuel suppliers who will then pass on the costs in the price of fuel.

The ATA’s submission says the inclusion of transport fuels means that all emissions deriving from transport operations will be subject to a carbon price, therefore ensuring the complete and equivalent imposition of Australia’s climate change objectives on competing firms within the transport sector and across firms in covered sectors of the economy.

With the carbon price incorporated in fuel prices trucking companies and their customers are able to make their own decisions about how to deal with climate change by reviewing their freight rates.

ATA Chairman Trevor Martyn said that the inclusion of the transport sector in the emissions trading scheme was better than the alternative.

“The alternative would be more regulation in the form of stringent engine requirements or attempts to force our customers to transport their freight by rail or sea, even if those transport modes did not meet their business requirements,” Martyn said.

In its submission, the ATA welcomed the Government’s plan to cut fuel taxes for heavy vehicle road users on a cent for cent basis to offset the initial impact of the emissions trading scheme on fuel prices.

The ATA argued it was essential that the cent for cent fuel tax offset be implemented as a clearly separate policy from the road user charge paid by trucking operators, which is currently 19.633 cents per litre.

The submission argued that the emissions trading offset needs to be implemented through a separate legislative instrument, so that the industry’s contribution to the road system remains clear, transparent and indisputable.

The full submission is available at the ATA Website