Rego: pay by the kay could it really happen?

Car registration fees in Victoria could be relegated to the history books within 10 years. A strategy recently released by government advisory body Infrastructure Victoria, proposed that rego should be ditched and replaced with a pay-per-kilometre system.

VIC ROADS

Such a system has previously been rejected by the Government and Opposition, despite the Andrews’ administration bringing in such a charge for electric vehicles only a matter of weeks ago on July 1. EV owners must now pay 2.5c/km for a BEV or 2c/km for a PHEV.

It’s now up to the State Government to decide whether or not to implement Infrastructure Victoria’s proposals – which form part of a 30-year strategy to overhaul the local transport network.

The blueprint includes 94 recommendations for changes which could be made over the next three decades, and takes into account more people working from home due to COVID-19.

“Our final recommendations consider the medium- to longer-term impacts of the global pandemic. Despite the current challenges, Victoria will continue to grow and transform,” said Infrastructure Victoria CEO Michel Masson. “Victoria faces some big challenges over the next three decades including a growing and ageing population, technological transformation, a warming climate and worsening congestion on our transport network.”

The news follows years of debate over changes to automotive taxation, with the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) and Australian Automobile Association (AAA) coming out in favour of scrapping registration.