Prime Minister Scott Morrison vows fuel pain relief but stalls on tax cut

Between costly Uber rides and average Aussie petrol prices at $2.10 a litre, there are calls for the federal government to lower its fuel tax to put downward pressure on ballooning fuel bills.

Motorists looking to avoid skyrocketing fuel prices by taking Uber rides will be forced to pay a petrol surcharge as the federal government faces growing pressure to drive down costs at the bowser.

Passengers will pay an extra 50 cents on an average trip as the ride share app rolls out the surcharge to help its drivers offset the burden of higher petrol prices for at least the next two months.

“While earnings on our platform remain elevated compared to historical trends, we’ve heard from driver-partner feedback that the recent sudden spike in petrol prices is having an impact,” Uber Australia driver operations head Emma Foley said.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has addressed fuel price pressures. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Flavio Brancaleone

Between costly Uber rides and average Aussie petrol prices at $2.10 a litre, Premier Dominic Perrottet had joined calls for the federal government to lower its fuel tax to put downward pressure on ballooning fuel bills.

“We should be doing everything we can to make sure the focus isn’t on our budgets but on family budgets … I would welcome any move by the Commonwealth to reduce excise,” Mr Perrottet said.

“Obviously with fuel prices increasing, the tax increases off the back of it so that penalises people right across our state, right across our country. Cost of living and family budget is a real issue right now.”

His plea for relief came as Prime Minister Scott Morrison signalled a potential solution in the upcoming federal budget.

Fuel prices have surged past the $2 mark across Australia. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

Mr Morrison told reporters the government was looking at releasing fuel reserves and pointed to the budget when asked about a reduction in the excise.

But peak motoring body NRMA argued that reducing Australia’s fuel excise would put funding for road repairs under pressure.

NRMA spokesman Peter Khoury said excise money was given to states and councils for repair work and councils were already facing a substantial backlog following the floods.

“The purpose of excise is to tax motorists at the bowser, through the service station … that money is raised to go back into the road network for fixing the roads,” he said.

“This year with the flooding that’s occurred across the eastern seaboard, a lot of councils have a huge workload on their hands and there is already a backlog of funding for this.”

Mr Khoury added that surging petrol prices could fuel rapid up-take of electric cars as Australians shifted away from “oil coming from the most volatile parts of the world”.

“This has highlighted to many Australians the benefits of being able to drive a car that is charged by electricity made here at home,” he said.

Electric Vehicle Council chief executive Behyad Jafari said demand for electric cars was growing around the world, but Australia remained low on supply.

“We are seeing an increased interest in demand right around the world with petrol prices going up,” he said.

Mr Jafari said the government needed to promptly introduce fuel efficiency standards to encourage car manufacturers to bring more electric vehicles to our shores.

“This is a big lesson to learn. There isn’t much the government can do to get down petrol prices whereas electricity is already cheaper (and) it’s something we completely control,” he said.

Originally published as Prime Minister Scott Morrison vows fuel pain relief but stalls on tax cut