Portfolio — 31 March 2026

The Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, Ms King, moved on two fronts on 31 March 2026 to address a cash-flow crisis in the road transport sector driven by fuel costs linked to the Middle East conflict. Legislation introduced this morning reduces the heavy vehicle road user charge to zero for three months, defers the next scheduled increase by six months, and halves the fuel excise for petrol and diesel for three months — delivering a saving of 23.6 cents per litre at the pump [TA-260331-house-66782c600be9:s141].

The Australian Trucking Association put the combined saving to operators at 32.4 cents per litre and described the package as the lifeline small trucking businesses need [TA-260331-house-66782c600be9:s141]. The measure drew public support from a broad coalition of industry bodies including the Tourism and Transport Forum, Business Council of Australia, Gas Energy Australia, Australian Retail Council, Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the National Road Transport Association.

The fuel and road user charge relief does not stand alone. Ms King framed it explicitly as one part of a two-limb response, complemented by amendments to the Fair Work Act passed the previous day that enable truck drivers to renegotiate rates with major retailers [TA-260331-house-66782c600be9:s141]. That cross-portfolio dimension — industrial law reform sitting alongside a direct cost-relief measure — is the sharpest signal in today's record: the government is presenting the transport sector's cost pressures as requiring both regulatory and fiscal responses simultaneously.

Ms King also drew a deliberate contrast with the previous government's handling of comparable fuel cost pressures, noting that the earlier administration cut the fuel excise alone and did not extend equivalent relief to heavy vehicle operators via the road user charge [TA-260331-house-66782c600be9:s141]. This framing positions the current package as a structural correction rather than a like-for-like repetition of prior policy.

States and territories agreed at National Cabinet to review heavy vehicle registration charges and continue discussions on GST treatment, signalling that the federal measures are intended to be the floor rather than the ceiling of the relief available to operators.