It's hard to find a case for a cut in petrol tax – there are other things the budget can do
- Written by: Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
Cutting petrol tax to bring down the cost of living used to be the political version of a joke. Failed US presidential candidates John McCain and Hillary Clinton both tried it in 2008. Their bipartisan advocacy of a “summer gas tax holiday” was derided as dumb, a turkey and a “metaphor for the entire campaign”.
When 230 econ...