'We can't all hop on cows': Ricky Muir takes aim at Joe Hockey over 'poor people don't drive' comments

Updated

Key Senate crossbencher Ricky Muir has criticised the Treasurer's statements about poor people's use of cars, saying not everyone in regional areas can "hop on cows and ride into town".

Coalition backbenchers and the Opposition have also taken Joe Hockey to task after he claimed poorer Australians would not be hit by increases to the fuel tax because "the poorest people either don't have cars or actually don't drive very far in many cases".

Victorian Motoring Enthusiasts Party senator Ricky Muir, who opposes the increase to the fuel excise, says people in regional areas generally earn less, but have further to travel and limited access to public transport.

"I don't think [the Treasurer has] ever lived in a rural, regional, or remote area where he may have been a school leaver, a job seeker, unemployed, low to mid-income where there's no public transport," he said.

"We can't all hop on cows and ride into town I don't think."

Senator Muir, a former timber worker and father of five, says he knows first hand about the impact of petrol costs on the household budget.

"There's been plenty of times when I've had to think twice about not only filling the car up but whether I really should be making a certain drive or not," he said.

"You sometimes have to make a bit of a sacrifice. There might be a friend you want to see who is unwell or something, but you've got to weigh it up - I need to do the shopping on this certain day, should I or shouldn't I? So yeah, I've certainly been there, I've lived that."

Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi, who is not in favour of the tax increase, also says the statement does not match the experience of his constituents.

"You know we don't need distractions," he told ABC News 24.

"And quite frankly, I know from personal experience and my engagement with the community that those in the lower social economic group tend to spend more as a percentage of their income on transport and the basic necessities of life than those who are wealthier."

Shorten says Treasurer on 'planet Hockey'

The Government announced in the budget an end to the 13-year freeze on the indexation of the fuel excise, predicting the measure would raise $2.2 billion to spend on roads.

The tax was supposed to go up at the start of August, but the move has lapsed because of a lack of support in the Senate.

His comments yesterday prompted Opposition Leader Bill Shorten to label him the "cigar chomping, Foghorn Leghorn of Australian politics".

This morning Mr Hockey said he was sorry if the statement had sounded callous or insulting, but Mr Shorten has called for a proper apology.

"I think Joe Hockey should apologise to Australians for insulting them by saying you don't need to worry about the tax if you don't drive a car," he said.

"Joe Hockey needs to come back to planet Earth, from planet Hockey.

"He needs to help real Australians meet their cost of living pressures, not be a further unfair source of pressure on Australians."

Mr Hockey says the Labor party is engaging in "personality politics" and he doesn't "care" about the commentary.

He says he is "dealing with the facts".

"The Australian Bureau of Statistics data states that the highest 20 per cent of household incomes pay three times more in fuel taxes than the lowest 20 per cent of household incomes," he told ABC NewsRadio from Perth.

"Australian Bureau of Statistics data is not something that I've concocted, it is the reality. These are dealing with the facts."

However, the Parliamentary Library found in 2001 that raising the fuel excise would be regressive, because low-income earners paid a higher proportion of their income on the tax than higher earners using the same amount of fuel.

Mr Hockey's comments have also been criticised by Nationals Senator John Williams, who says people in the bush pay more.

"The lowest paid people in our nation are in rural and regional areas in many respects, and they do have to have a car," he said.

Coalition backbencher Queensland LNP Senator Ian Macdonald agrees.

"Regional Australians don't have the alternative of public transport or other means of getting there," he said.

"You have to have a car whether you are rich or poor. You need a vehicle to be able to get from one place to the other. To get to hospital, to get to school, to get to your daily work routine.

"And unfortunately increases in fuel excises will impact more heavily on those who don't have an alternative."

Voters in two regional NSW electorates have also reacted strongly to the comments, pointing to the costs of fuel in running a farm business.

"People who live in the country, everyone has a car. Poor people have to have a car and they travel long distances," one local said.

But Nationals backbencher John Cobb says while the excise is not popular, it is part of the Government's budget strategy.

"This increase is not a big one and nobody wants it. I don't want it, but nobody wants a set of books that are cooked either, so they do have to be fixed," Mr Cobb said.

Mr Hockey has been travelling across the country to meet crucial Senate crossbenchers, in a bid to win over their support for billions of dollars in blocked budget measures.

The $7 GP fee, deregulation of university fees, and cuts to family benefits are among those policies that look set for defeat, but Mr Hockey has ruled out drawing up a mini-budget.

"No that's exactly what some people want," he told Fairfax radio this morning.

"They want that level of panic - we are not in panic mode."

The Treasurer's office released the following data:

Topics: automotive, business-economics-and-finance, budget, federal-government, government-and-politics, hockey-joe, australia

First posted