Newsroom

In the lead-up to the National Electric Vehicle Summit in Canberra on Friday, members of the Independent crossbench who are speaking at the Summit are driving policies to accelerate the shift to more efficient and cleaner cars for all.

With 16% of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions from transport alone, and light vehicles accounting for 10% of this total, the Independents are advocating for reform that will help increase take-up of electric vehicles as well as cutting emissions.

Following the recent passing of the Climate Change Bill in the House of Representatives with a target of 43% reduced emissions, the Independents are each looking at policies to help drive this transformation.

To meet our climate ambitions, the Independents agree all levers available to the Government need to be pulled to ensure a rapid and efficient transition to a net zero economy. One sector ripe for change is the transport sector.

KYLEA TINK, MEMBER FOR NORTH SYDNEY

“Today, we are calling on Minister Bowen to jump in the driver’s seat and accelerate the clean-up of our cars.

“In September, I will move to bring fuel quality standards and vehicle emissions standards into line with international markets within two years, including legislating legally binding efficiency standards to encourage greater supply of fuel-efficient vehicles, including EVs. We must keep up with the pace set by the Europeans on all pollutants, not just sulphur.

“I will also push the Government to legislate binding fuel efficiency standards to get us on a trajectory to no new fossil fuel vehicles by 2035,” said Ms Tink.

DR MONIQUE RYAN, MEMBER FOR KOOYONG

“A simple change to the definition of fuel efficient vehicles in the Luxury Car Tax would make EVs more competitive, decrease tax waivers for polluting ICE vehicles, and increase tax revenue by ~$411 million over the 2022-2023 Budget forward estimates period.

“The current definition of a “fuel efficient” vehicle is outdated and gives tax concessions to a broad range of high-end internal combustion engine vehicles. A change to the definition of fuel efficiency from 7 litres of fuel per 100kms to 4l/100km will make low and zero emissions vehicles in this price range more competitive, increasing overall supply of these vehicles into the country. I am calling on the Treasurer to make this change as part of the October budget.

“Australia must also introduce average vehicle carbon emissions standards (sometimes known as “fuel efficiency standards”), which means that manufacturers would need to adhere to limits on the average level of carbon emissions across the fleet of vehicles they sell in Australia each year; that average must reduce over time. The introduction of these standards will cost us nothing but will ensure manufacturers supply a greater range of affordable EVs to our market to balance imports of carbon-emitting vehicles. Over time this will ensure our transition away from ICE vehicles to affordable clean EVs.”

ZOE DANIEL, MEMBER FOR GOLDSTEIN

“My biggest concern is that we have targets and aspirations, but no pathway.

“As the proverb has it: ‘The road to hell is paved with good intentions’.”

"An amendment to the criteria for ARENA’s Future Fuels Fund would ensure that the rollout of fast chargers is fit for purpose.

"Currently grants favour low-capacity chargers which are too slow. This frustrates EV drivers and deters potential owners by increasing “charging anxiety”.  The last government committed $79m to this programme.

"This government should increase the minimum capacity requirement for grants from 50kw to the industry standard of 150kw to ensure that the chargers supported are fast enough to guarantee driver confidence and value for public money."