The fact of the matter is that we have catching up to do with the rest of the world. Motorists in the United States, in New Zealand, in Canada, in India, in China and in Saudi Arabia have the benefit of new vehicle efficiency standards. Because of 10 years of denial, delay and inaction, Australians don't. Those opposite know we should. The member for Bradfield knows it. He was a very fervent advocate for them, and he pointed out on multiple occasions that in no country in the world has there been an upward impact on any particular model. He was right then and he's wrong now.
]]>We're not the only ones. The member for Bradfield said in his statement—and it's directly relevant to international comparisons. He said:
Although Australia accounts for less than two per cent of the global new vehicle market, it is becoming increasingly important that we harmonise our approaches to vehicle emissions with those in place in other countries.
That is what we are seeking to do. We're not seeking to catch up with New Zealand or Europe, which have more ambitious standards. We are seeking to catch up with the United States.
It is the case that they did it in the 1970s. We are trying to implement them in 2024, which comes considerably too late when you consider that John Howard went to the 2001 election promising, 'The coalition is negotiating new fuel efficiency standards for motor vehicles to reduce the amount of fuel consumed per kilometre travelled.' The Liberals kept talking about it. We will deliver it.
]]>I've been reflecting over the parliamentary break, and I think I've been unfair to the member for Bradfield. I have pointed out his strong support for vehicle efficiency standards, but I think an observer could reach the conclusion that he was the only one on the other side. To his credit, he is a strong supporter of vehicle efficiency standards, but he wasn't the only one. Indeed, he of course had joint carriage with the then member for Kooyong and the then member for Flinders, Mr Hunt. He took it through cabinet on several occasions, to his credit. Everyone who was in cabinet at that time in 2016 and 2017 obviously signed it off. The Leader of the Opposition would have been in favour of it. There was a joint media statement—a big gold crest on the media statement—from all three ministers. It said in relation to the honourable member's question about international standards—
]]>I am writing to urge you to make our standards strong and well designed. We need them to be competitive and effective so Australian farmers can get our hands on cleaner utes and cars that are cheaper to run.
… … …
Farming is getting harder.
The Leader of the Nationals doesn't care about Peter Stray. Peter writes:
With an El Nino declared, we started destocking because I don't want to go through another season wondering if I can feed my animals.
… … …
We want cleaner, lower emissions farm operations—including our vehicles. But we can't make the business case stack up because the choice of electric and fuel efficient vehicles on the market in Australia is so limited. They're also far too expensive.
Opposition members interjecting—
They really don't want to hear Peter. He writes:
There are utes being made with ranges of around 800km now. If we can sort our fuel efficiency standards out, those utes will make it to Australia instead of just to the EU and US.
I already drive further and pay more for fuel than those in the city, so the cost of living impact is getting increasingly real.
Australia is one of the only wealthy countries in the world without legislated national fuel efficiency standards. If we get our standards right, it'll be an incentive for manufacturers to send far more low and zero emissions new vehicles (including farm utes) to Australia.
Farmers and regional Australians want stronger Fuel Efficiency Standards.
That's from Peter Stray, a multigenerational farmer from Golden Plains in Victoria. Why don't you be more like Peter?
]]>My name is Peter Stray. I'm a fifth generation beef and sheep farmer in the Golden Plains region of Victoria.
Thank you for your promise to design and deliver fuel efficiency standards for Australia.
Opposition members interjecting—
You don't want to hear from Peter Stray?
]]>Honourable members interjecting —
]]>That's why we are proposing a policy under which an average new car buyer in 2028 will cut their annual fuel costs by around $1,000. The member for Bradfield put it so eloquently in that op-ed in theAustralian jointly with the then member for Kooyong when he said, 'People in regional and rural areas will be the big winners from fuel efficiency standards.' He put it so well. And maybe that is why the RACQ, the peak body for motorists in Queensland, wrote, 'A well-designed standard'—
Opposition members interjecting—
]]>Yes, it is the case that different models have different costs. Of course that is the case, but it is also the case that rigorous analysis of our policies, released in the impact statement by the minister for transport and me, showed $140 billion in benefits to all Australians out to 2050, $12 billion in fuel savings for motorists by 2030, $108 billion dollars in fuel savings by 2050—
]]>One of the reasons I appreciate this line of questioning so much is that it underlines the negativity of this Leader of the Opposition. All he has got are scare campaigns. All he has got is negativity. The member for Cook may have left the building, but he left his anti-weekend scare campaigns behind for the Leader of the Opposition. Just a few weeks before the last election, the then Treasurer of Australia—the then member for Kooyong—was asked about fuel efficiency status. He said this: 'We have always been committed to getting fuel efficiency standards in place.' That was the former member for Kooyong. I'd hate to see it if they were opposed! They've had a funny way of showing it over the last week or so. This is an opposition so negative, as I've said before, that they oppose our policies—
]]>The only people who don't have access to those fuel-efficient vehicles as a matter of government policy are the motorists of Australia and Russia. The Leader of the Opposition knows that, and he says, 'nyet'. 'No, we're not having that. Nyet! We're going to stick out there with Russia as the only developed major economy without access to fuel efficiency standards.' Well, that's not good enough, as far as we're concerned. It might be good enough for the Leader of the Opposition, who has no plan for motorists to get access to more efficient vehicles and no plans of his own, despite the fact that, to their credit, the member for Bradfield and the then member for Kooyong tried to implement this policy in 2017, went to the then shadow minister for transport, who is now the Prime Minister of Australia, and said, 'Look, this is going to be controversial, but will we have opposition support?' The then shadow minister for transport said, 'Yes, you will, because it's good policy.' We will back good policy, because that's what leadership looks like. It's seeing a good idea that might not be your idea and backing it. That's what the now Prime Minister did, and he is now the Prime Minister of Australia. The current Leader of the Opposition isn't doing that. Perhaps that's why he won't be Prime Minister of Australia.
]]>I will finish with some support for the member for Bradfield from Senator Sharma, who said on 5 February:
Well, we are adopting increasing fuel efficiency standards and that's a good thing. I don't have a problem with that. We should be doing that, and the fleet should be progressively getting cleaner and a lower intensity of emissions.
The Leader of the Opposition should be more like Senator Sharma.
]]>With the Standard in place, Hyundai dealers will still have great vehicles to sell, customers will have great vehicles to drive, and we will be doing our bit to reduce emissions in line with Australia's commitment to decarbonise.
That's just one company.
]]>Now, the honourable member in the question that was written for him, has mischaracterised, of course, the policy design that has been put forward and consulted upon by the minister for transport and I. I'm a little surprised the question got through tactics because the chair of the tactics committee is the member for Bradfield. The House will be shocked to learn that he has views about this matter and about the availability of utes in countries with fuel efficiency standards. He pointed out, for example:
So when fuel efficiency standards were introduced in the US, the most popular models before introduction stayed the most popular models after introduction. Essentially, what Americans call pickup trucks and what we'd call utes, like the Chevy Silverado. There wasn't a material change in price and we don't expect that there would be a material change in price here.
What the honourable member and those opposite are seeking to convince the Australian people of is that Australia will be the only country in the world where we introduce efficiency standards and the price of vehicles go up as a result. It didn't happen in the United States in 1975, Japan in 1985, China in 2005, South Korea in 2006, the European Union in 2009, Canada in 2011, Mexico in 2013, India in 2014, or, I think the Prime Minister's personal favourite, Saudi Arabia in 2016. Those woke warriors at it again! That is why, for example, Hyundai has said:
We think we will soon have a world-class Efficiency Standard in Australia and we're excited by that.
]]>