Australia’s transport ministers should freeze heavy vehicle charges in 2023-24 and increase them 2.75 per cent in each of 2024-25 and 2025-26, the ATA’s response to a December 2022 consultation report on these charges says.

In December 2022, Australia’s transport ministers agreed to move to a three year pricing period for heavy vehicle charges with the strong support of the ATA.

The NTC followed up with a consultation report examining—

• Option 1: increasing the roads component of heavy vehicle registration charges and the road user charge on fuel by six per cent per year for three years from 2023-24 to 2025-26, or 19 per cent in total. The road user charge would increase from 27.2 cents per litre to 32.4 cents per litre.
• Option 2: increasing the roads component of heavy vehicle registration charges and the road user charge by 10 per cent per year for three years, or 33 per cent in total. The road user charge would increase from 27.2 cents per litre to 36.2 cents per litre.

This submission argues that ministers should not accept either option.

The submission also recommends the introduction of a lower remote area road user charge set at half the national road user charge rate. This would save remote area trucking operators an extra 13.6 cents per litre.