Labor has surpassed expectations of bringing in the veterans’ votes by pledging to cut down registration fees by 50% for caravans and trailers, saving a few owners more than $600 annually.
According to Chief Minister Andrew Barr, the amendment sides the ACT with the NSW registration fees.
“These new measures will not only simplify how registrations work by harmonising with our larger neighbour, they will also save caravan owners a significant amount across all caravan and trailer weight classes,” said Barr.
“It currently costs $1280 a year to register a caravan with a tare weight of 2505 – 2795 kilos in the ACT – this would drop to $640 per annum.”
The decision was commended by Campervan and Motorhome Club of Australia’s national chairman, Garry Lee.
“Canberra has always been recognised as the most expensive place in Australia to register a recreational vehicle, and to some detriment, because people have tended to register RVs in other states as a result,” said Lee.
According to Garry Lee, should the changes come post-election, the ACT would go back to nearly the national average since it had already been about double most states. A motorhome owner itself, he was however disappointed that the move did not include any modification to self-driven motorhomes and campervans.
“We’ll go back and push them to include all recreational vehicles,” said Lee.
The declaration was made as 700 vehicles, including campervans, motorhomes and caravans parked at EPIC for the club’s week-long national rally.
Mr Lee added that the caravan and trailer changes would promote more baby boomers to get on the “great Australian dream” of a caravan and travel around the country.
The National Rally ended 14th of October.
Full article by Matthew Raggatt courtesy of The Canberra Times.
