For 44 years, Australia has subsidised diesel use. Is it time to stop?

Yes, after subsidising charging stations and electric trucks for a while.

Oh fuck man what a hard question, lemme think about that for a bit, dam what a conundrum, what a puzzle, fuckin head scratcher this one is, goddam

Saying it’s “subsidized” is a stretch. The “subsidy” that they’re talking about is this:

Since 1929, tax collected from the petrol pump has been earmarked to build and maintain the nation’s road network.

These vehicles aren’t used on the roads, hence why they are essentially exempt from this tax. My car is diesel, but I don’t get any subsidy for the diesel that I buy because I drive on the roads with my car. Diesel isn’t subsidized, farm vehicles are just exempt from paying essentially a “road tax” because they don’t use roads.

Of course. We’re all paying for the environmental and health costs (via Medicare) for diesel as well, so the subsidies are higher , and unquantifiable

In fact, by masking the real costs, we’re empowering idiots who then claim diesel is cheap. And a lot of them are the same idiots who loved leaded petrol

Even worse, there taxpayer funds primarily benefit people with the biggest emotional support vehicles and some of our most toxic Australians