23 February 2006

Productivity Commission to Review Economic Costs of Freight Infrastructure and Efficient Approaches to Transport Pricing

The Treasurer today announced that the Productivity Commission will undertake a public inquiry to review economic costs of freight infrastructure and efficient approaches to transport pricing.

The Treasurer noted that the review will determine the full financial and economic costs of providing road and rail infrastructure and identify the optimal methods and timeframes for introducing efficient road and rail freight infrastructure pricing. This will inform the Government and help to implement efficient pricing of road and rail freight infrastructure through consistent and competitively neutral pricing regimes.

The Productivity Commission will shortly release an issues paper and invite expressions of interest from anyone wanting to participate in the review. Anyone with interest in the inquiry is encouraged to make a submission to the Commission.

The Terms of Reference for the inquiry are attached. Further information about the inquiry is available from the Productivity Commission at www.pc.gov.au or by phone 02 6240 3239.