POPULAR WORDS

The Howard government has moved to extend the Diesel and Alternative Fuel Grant Scheme (DAFGS) scheme for 12 months. As flagged by www.trucknbus.com.au last Tuesday, the 18.5-cents-a-litre subsidy will now run until June 30, 2003. This will enable the results of the Fuel Tax Inquiry, which reports in March 2002, to be fully evaluated before DAFGS legislation sunsets on June 30, 2002. The inquiry is tasked with developing the Energy Credits Scheme, which will replace diesel grants. A change of government will not effect this, with the Labor Party announcing at NatRoad that it will also extend the scheme until 2003. "Labor will ensure any new energy credits scheme and arrangements maintain the equivalent benefits to the trucking industry as the DAFGS," Shadow Transport Minister Martin Ferguson says. Labor's scheme post-2003, he adds, will include incentives and measures to improve the environmental performance of the transport industry and vehicle efficiency.