Bills Digest no. 41 2008–09
Interstate Road Transport Charge Amendment Bill (No.2) 2008
WARNING:
This Digest was prepared for debate. It reflects the legislation as introduced
and does not canvass subsequent amendments. This Digest does not have
any official legal status. Other sources should be consulted to determine
the subsequent official status of the Bill.
CONTENTS
Passage history
Purpose
Background
Financial implications
Main provisions
Contact officer & copyright details
Passage history
Date introduced:
25 September 2008
House:
Representatives
Portfolio:
Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and
Local Government
Commencement:
Sections 1 to 3 on Royal Assent, Schedule 1 on a
date fixed by Proclamation or the day after a six month period after Royal
Assent.
Links: The relevant
links to the Bill, Explanatory Memorandum and second reading speech
can be accessed via BillsNet, which is at http://www.aph.gov.au/bills/. When Bills
have been passed they can be found at ComLaw, which is at http://www.comlaw.gov.au/.
To amend the Interstate Road Transport
Charge Act 1985 to increase the registration charges for heavy vehicles
registered under the Federal Interstate Registration Scheme (FIRS) and
to take account of concerns expressed during the debate of the Interstate
Road Transport Charge Amendment Bill 2008 through the Senate in March
2008.
The current Bill takes account of concerns expressed
during the debate of the Interstate Road Transport Charge Amendment Bill
2008 in the Senate. That Bill was defeated in the Senate on 19
March 2008. This Bills Digest will discuss the new provisions contained
in the current Bill that take account of those concerns. See the bills
digest on the Interstate Road
Transport Charge Amendment Bill 2008 for the full discussion on the
provisions of the Bill generally.
The second reading speech of the Minister for Infrastructure,
Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, Hon Mr Anthony Albanese
stated that the Bill ‘addresses key concerns raised in March 2008, namely
that the Australian government should not be required to implement registration
charges only agreed by the Australian Transport Council.’[1] Concerns were raised during the
debate in the Senate that the way in which the provision was phrased in
the first Bill would in effect restrict the Commonwealth from dissenting
from decisions of the Ministerial Council and ‘would be unable to determine
in its own right the charges that should apply to Commonwealth registered
vehicles.’[2] In the current
Bill this provision has been amended to make it much less restrictive.
‘This new Bill provides the Australian Government the flexibility to implement
heavy vehicle charges for FIRS registered vehicles that are consistent
with the Government’s road transport reform agenda.’[3]
The Explanatory Memorandum states that there is no net
impact on the Australian Government budget flowing from this amendment.
All revenue from FIRS charges is returned to the state or territory governments
under an agreed distribution formula that accounts for road usage by FIRS
heavy vehicles.
The provisions dealt with
here are the major provisions which differ from the previous Bill. See
the Interstate Road
Transport Charge Amendment Bill 2008 for discussion of the remaining
provisions of the current Bill which have not changed.
Item 6, proposed subsection 5(6) provides that
regulations made under section 5 must not take effect until after the
disallowance period under Part 5 of the Legislative Instruments
Act 2003.[4] This provision
removes the restrictive words that regulations must implement the
national charge agreed by the Australian Transport Council that appeared
in the first Interstate Road Transport Charge Amendment Bill 2008. The
provision in the first Bill read as follows:
Section 5(4) Regulations made for the purposes of
this section must implement the national charge imposed on the registration
of heavy vehicles, and any adjustment process of that charge, that is
agreed by the Australian Transport Council.
Item 7 repeals both existing section
5A - Automatic increase of amounts of charge and existing section
6 - Regulations may decrease amounts of charge. Section 5A
dealt with changes determined in accordance with the schedule of the Interstate
Road Transport Charge Act 1985, including changes made by the application
of section 5A or regulations made for the purposes of section 6 which
could decrease the amount of the charge.
Item 10(1) is an applications provision. It provides
that charges calculated under the old section 5 will continue to apply
after the commencement of the current provisions until regulations made
under the new section 5 come into force.
Moira Coombs
13 October 2008
Bills Digest Service
Parliamentary Library
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