Tuesday, 2 August 2022

Petitions

Following petition presented to house:

Road tolls

The Petition of certain citizens of the State of Victoria draws to the attention of the Legislative Council that there is a need to relieve the financial burden of excessive toll rates on privately owned utes.

Melbourne toll road operators for Citylink and EastLink, have different rates for light commercial vehicles, which includes utes, as opposed to four-wheel drive wagons. This applies whether a vehicle is privately owned or not. Compared to driving a wagon, it is 46 per cent more expensive for a casual ute user to drive on CityLink.

Wagons are heavier and more expensive vehicles compared to most utes. However, the toll rates for wagons are considerably less than utes. This system is incredibly unfair to families and imposes a significant financial burden on young apprentice tradespeople who drive utes. There is a need for review.

Utes are common family vehicles and to classify a ute as a light commercial vehicle is unfair.

The petitioners therefore request that the Legislative Council call on the Government to change the vehicle classification system so that all privately owned utes pay the same rates as passenger vehicles on toll roads.

By Mr BARTON (Eastern Metropolitan) (1065 signatures).

Laid on table.