One Nation posted this photo of Helen Haines MP, Michelle Milthorpe and Senator David Pocock alongside its claim that the teals would scrap fuel tax rebates. Photo: Helen Haines MP.
Farrer candidate Michelle Milthorpe and independent MP Zali Steggall have both rejected claims made during the by-election campaign that they’re pushing to scrap fuel tax rebates for farmers.
The Federal Government imposes a 52-cents-per-litre tax on diesel, but allows primary producers and other industries to claim a refund on this when using heavy vehicles for business purposes.
Nationals’ candidate for Farrer Brad Robertson issued a media release stating the Climate 200 ‘teals’ have called to “cut the diesel fuel rebate” for primary industries and that this would “cripple every farmer” in the Farrer electorate.
On Facebook, the One Nation Party said the “teals are pushing hard to phase out fuel use across Australia, claiming electric vehicles are the answer to everything”. Their post included a headline of a Sky News article stating “teals call for cut to diesel rebate”, alongside a photo of Ms Milthorpe, Senator David Pocock and Wodonga-based MP Helen Haines.
Both parties use the ‘teal’ label to denote any politician backed by crowdfunding lobby group Climate 200, which has donated money to both Ms Milthorpe and Ms Steggall.
“I reject as utterly untrue claims by both One Nation, and Nationals candidate for Farrer, Brad Robertson, that I or other independent MPs want to scrap the fuel tax credit as farmers are battling rising fuel prices,” Ms Steggall told Region.
“Robertson has blatantly misrepresented the policy I have proposed. My plan is to phase out the fuel tax credit for coal, gas and heavy industry, by one-third per year over three years. Agriculture is explicitly excluded from this plan.
“New research from The Australia Institute shows the Fuel Tax Credit Scheme is now worth $10.8 billion. Overwhelmingly, the biggest share goes to large mining companies and heavy industry.
“At a time when households and businesses are under real cost-of-living pressure, it’s nonsensical that taxpayers are subsidising diesel use for some of the biggest and most profitable companies in the country.”
She said that money saved by scrapping the scheme should be redirected into her proposed Climate Resilience Fund, which would set aside monies for infrastructure and strategies aimed at helping Australians adjust to climate change.
Ms Milthorpe said she fully supported fuel tax credits for primary producers.
“The government has completely failed our farmers yet again with this fuel crisis and need to sort themselves out before the country grinds to a halt,” she said.
“Diesel on farm is not a luxury, it’s how we grow food and keep this country running. Australia is one of the most energy rich countries in the world but right now we are one of the least secure: we’ve shut down refineries, we import most of our fuel, and we store oil in the United States instead of at home.”
Ms Steggall also wrote a comment directly on the Facebook posts of both One Nation and the Nationals’ candidate.
“Don’t let the truth get in the way of a scare campaign,” she wrote in response to the One Nation post.
“No independents are calling for change to diesel excise rebate to farming or primary producers. Sky knows this headline was false and misleading, and in any event, that piece had nothing to do with the three people pictured. This is why truth in political advertising is needed: claims in this advertising are completely false. Let’s see if a correction is made or if my comment is hidden.”
