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...