Australia politics live: Albanese says election will be called ‘pretty imminently’; Dutton proposes himself as the ‘solulu’ in response to PM’s quip

The early mail from economists is that the average household won’t save anywhere near the claimed $14 a week from the Coalition’s plan to half fuel excise for 12 months.

Peter Dutton reckons his big cost of living measure – to rival Labor’s surprise tax cuts – will deliver twice that weekly benefit for a two-car family.

But AMP chief economist, Shane Oliver’s, somewhat more dispassionate calculations suggest the 25-cent fuel discount will save the average household about $8.75 a week.

Dutton this morning said their estimates were based on a household using 55 litres per week per car. Oliver, however, says ABS household expenditure data show the average household uses only about 35 litres of fuel a week.

And that data is a few years old now, which means average fuel usage may be a little lower now given the increased popularity of EVs. Oliver said:

So I would say $8.75 a week at most. But it will vary widely with those with no car or an EV getting no benefit and those with a RAM (ute) getting a big benefit.

Another simple calculation also suggests the Coalition’s claimed savings are overblown.

Spreading the $6bn across the roughly 10 million households points to an average benefit of $600 a year. That’s about $11.50 a week.

For comparison, Labor’s recently passed tax cuts will give the average taxpayer an extra $4.60 a week from the middle of next year, and $9.20 a week from mid-2027.