Tolls on the Bruce Hwy!!

[Scotty72]

Well, to be fair, I don't think anyone's surprised that the fix will cost money. But we all pay a 'road tax' in our registration, PLUS we all pay TAX. I'm sure most people would prefer (I would anyway) the government 'skimping' in other areas to keep roads, bridges, and tunnels toll free.

And, this tends to open up another can of worms and an argument that no side will every concede ground on.

Depending on whose figures you believe, road taxes (as part of rego), fuel taxes etc either cover the roads budget or they don't. According to figures I obtained when I was involved in bicycle advocacy: in NSW (I assume Qld Is worse off because of less tax / longer roads), the total raised (including NSW share of federal money) falls well short of the amount spend on road building / maintenance.

Then there are the social costs of motoring: pollution, road trauma, sedentary lifestyles etc and the $billions they can cost to society.

I think, the last thing the average motorist would want, is to be asked to pay the true cost of motoring.

As for your point about waste in other spending areas.

All spending is wasteful unless it benefits us or we sympathize with those it benefits. I used to drive a Yellow Cab around Brisbane. The taxi subsidy give to disabled people was constantly attacked by the shock jocks as wasteful. To others, it is the most sensible spending in government history.

Scotty

[bargain]

All spending is wasteful unless it benefits us or we sympathize with those it benefits.Scotty

Absolutely, good point.

I would just say that the vast, vast majority benefits from no tolls, and of those who don't directly, most would sympathise with the beneficiaries - family and friends.

[Scotty72]

Absolutely, good point.

I would just say that the vast, vast majority benefits from no tolls, and of those who don't directly, most would sympathise with the beneficiaries - family and friends.

Yeah but, if we pay tolls, the govt will have more $ to fix the roads, clean up the pollution and staff the hospitals with staff to treat the victims of road trauma and childhood asthma caused by motor vehicles. Now, there's a real benefit

A case in point about the benefit of a toll is Sydney's M4. When they dropped the toll last year, the traffic went from being almost unbearable to completely intolerable. And that was with an effective toll of about 25 cents: imagine if were a few dollars that was dropped - it would be a total carpark.

Anyway, this is so moot: it is obviously a political smear / fear campaign. It's like debating the merits of having a second moon circling the Earth...


Scott