Interstate Road Transport Amendment Bill 1995 [and] Interstate Road Transport Charge Amendment Bill 1995
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BILLS DIGEST
Nos. 54 - 55. 1995
Interstate Road Transport AmendmentBill 1995
Interstate Road Transport Charge AmendmentBill 1995
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Interstate Road Transport Amendment Bill 1995 Interstate Road Transport Charge Amendment Bill 1995
Date Introduced: 8 March 1995 House: House ofRepresentatives Portfolio: Transport Commencement: The Interstate Road Transport Amendment Bill 1995 is to commence at the commencement of the Interstate Road Transport Charge AmendmentAct 1995, which is to commence on 1 July 1995.
Purpose
• To amend the Interstate Road Transport Act 1985 to remove the option for the owner of a vehicle engaged in interstate trade that is registered under the Act, to pay a registration charge based on distance travelled. The Bill also amends the Act to remove the option to pay the registration charge by instalments.
• To amend the Interstate Road Transport Charge Act 1985 to set out registration charges for vehicles engaged in interstate trade that are registered under the Interstate Road Transport Act 1985.
Background
The Interstate Road Transport Act 1985 and the Interstate Road Transport Charge Act 1985 are part of the legislative framework of the Federal Interstate Registration Scheme (FIRS).
FIRS provides a Federal registration scheme for vehicles solely engaged in interstate trade and commerce. Charges collected under the scheme are redistributed to the States and Territories for road maintenance.
Interstate Road Transport AmendmentBill 1995 Interstate Road Transport Charge AmendmentBill 1995
FIRS was set up after the 1955 High Court decision in Hughes & Vale Ply Ltd v New South Wales (No 2).1
In that case, the High Court considered the validity of interstate road user charges imposed by the States. The High Court stated that section 92 of the Constitution, which provides that 'trade, commerce and intercourse among the States ... shall be absolutely free'. invalidates any charge that is not directly related to the cost of road
repair arising out of the wear caused by those vehicles.
In 1987 FIRS was established, largely in response to the report of the National Road Freight Industry Inquiry, 2 to put in place a method of charging interstate vehicles for road maintenance. The Hughes & Vale principle was replicated in the FIRS legislation in section 5(3) of the Interstate Road Transport Charge Act 1985. which provided (when first enacted):
The Governor-General in making regulations, ... shall have regard only to the cost of maintenance and upkeep of roads that are used by registered motor  vehicles and trailers, ... that is a result ofdamage done by those motor vehicles and trailers ...
However, in 1988 the High Court reconsidered the interpretation of section 92, in the case of Cole v Whitfield. 3 The view of the Court in that case was, essentially, that section 92 only prohibits laws that in some way discriminate against interstate trade. In the context of road charges, this meant that it was no longer necessary to link charges to road damage, as a charge would be valid as long as it did not discriminate between intrastate and interstate vehicles. 4
As a result of that decision, the Tasmanian and Western Australian Governments argued that the reason for the establishment of FIRS had disappeared, and that the imposition ofcharges could be left to the States and Territories. However, arguments for the retention ofFIRS were put forward by the National Transport Federation and
some State Governments. The arguments included that FIRS had played an important role in achieving greater unifonnity in vehicle regulation. s
In 1991 all States, both Territories, and the Commonwealth became parties to the Intergovernmental Agreements on Heavy Vehicles. The thrust of the Agreements is to develop nationally unifonn policies and practices for road transport. It is expected that when unifonnity is achieved by the enacting of complementary legislation by all
States and Territories, FIRS will no longer be necessary. At this stage however, not all States have agreed to some details in the unifonn proposals.
The body responsible for the development of nationally unifonn policies and practices is the National Road Transport Commission (NRTC). The NRTC reports to the Ministerial Council for Road Transport, consisting of a Transport or Roads Minister from each of the States, both Territories and the Commonwealth 6.
Charges Regulations, developed under the Road Transport Charges (Australian Capital Territory) Act 1993, were approved by Ministerial Council on 20 December
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Interstate Road Transport AmendmentBill 1995 Interstate Road Transport Charge AmendmentBill 1995
1993 as the model for this Federal legislation and for the State and Northern Territory legislation.
The commencement date for the new registration charges is set for I July 1995, and it is hoped that adopting legislation will be enacted by the State and Northern Territory Parliaments for the new regime to be in place on 1 July 1995. 7
Under the present regime, interstate vehicle owners who registered their vehicles under the Interstate Road Transport Act /985, can choose either a flat registration charge or a registration charge calculated on the distance travelled as measured by a charge monitoring device. The charge monitoring device option has not been widely used.
The new registration charges proposed by the amendments consist of flat registration charges for different categories of vehicles, taking into account the number of axles on the vehicle concerned.
The explanatory memorandum (paragraph 8) indicates that there will be no net budgetary impact of the amendments, and that amounts equivalent to registration cbarges collected will be paid by the Commonwealth into the Interstate Road Transport Fund for continued distribution to the States and Tenitories.
Main Provisions
Interstate Road TransportAmendmentBill 1985
Item 1 amends the definition of"vehicle" in subsection 3(1) to exclude vehicles with a mass rating for charging (MRC) of less than or equal to 4.5 tonnes.
Item 2 defines "MRC" in subsection 3(1) as the maximum mass of the vehicle including load, or its operating mass.
Item 9 removes the option to nominate to be charged according to distance travelled. This item also removes the option to pay the charge by instalments.
Interstale Road Transport ChargeAmendmentBil/1985
Item 1 substitutes a new section 5 which provides that annual registration charges are as specified in the new Schedule. Item I also substitutes a new section 6 which provides that the annual registration charges may be altered by regulation but that the alteration must not vary the charge for the previous year by more than 5%.
Item 2 adds a Schedule which provides definitions relevant to the calculation of charges, and sets out the charges applicable to load carrying vehicles, trailers and buses.
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Interstate Road Transport AmendmentBi/l1995 Interstate Road Transport Charge AmendmentBill 1995
ENDNOTES
1. (1955) 93 CLR 127.
2. National Road Freight Industry Inquiry, Report, AGPS, Canberra, 1984.
3. (1988) 165 CLR 360.
4. Inter-state Commission, Road Use Charges and Vehicle Registration Scheme: A National Scheme, Volume I, March 1990, p 37.
5. ibid, P 12.
6. National Road Transport Commission. AnnualReport 1993/94, pp 3 - 4.
7. ibid, P 8.
Gavin Lee (06) 2772432 Bills Digest Service 27 March 1995
Parliamentary Research Service
This Digest does not have any legal status. Other sources should be consulted to determine whether this Bill has been enacted and, if so, whether the subsequent Act reflects further amendments.
© Commonwealth of Australia 1995
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Published by the Department of the Parliamentary Library, 1995.
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