Allegra Spender (Wentworth, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I rise in support of the second reading of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Electric Car Discount) Bill 2022. The shift to zero-emission vehicles is essential to Australia's climate ambitions, to our fuel security and to easing cost-of-living pressures on households. With global supply likely be constrained for several years, Australia must act immediately to create a viable mass market for electric vehicles. Transition to EVs is an absolute priority for the community of Wentworth, from which I come. This bill is a step in the right direction, but it is only a very small step. It must be part of a much wider package that includes fuel efficiency standards, rapid investment in our charging infrastructure and a broader set of financial incentives that make EVs more affordable in Australia.

Transport is responsible for 19 per cent of Australia's emissions. The bulk of this comes from road transport, because failed government policy over many years has left us with one of the most emissions-intensive vehicle fleets in the world. On average, our passenger vehicles are 45 per cent more emissions intensive than those in Europe. Rapid decarbonisation of our transport sector is, therefore, essential for us to reach net zero by 2050.

However, this is not just about climate action; this is about energy security. Australia imports over 90 per cent of its liquid fuel from overseas. I was at an event with the former Chief of the Defence Force Chris Barry, who said that climate change was the greatest threat to Australian security, and that was absolutely identified because of fuel security. Recently, our fuel stockpile was reported to be just 32 days, well below the 90-day IEA requirement.

Our fuel imports are heavily exposed to East Asia. Given significant global uncertainty and tension in the region, this poses a real national security risk. Why import dirty foreign oil when we can power our cars on clean Australian sunshine? Because we are importing so much of our fuel, we are vulnerable to global price shocks. Even after the poorly targeted vehicle fuel excise tax, Australian families are paying through the nose at the bowser because of Putin's war on Ukraine and our dependence on expensive foreign oil. The transition to EVs must also be a priority for reducing the cost of living for Australian families in the medium term.

Despite these imperatives, Australia's being left behind. Research by the Grattan Institute suggests that if we're to achieve net zero by 2050 we need EVs to make up 100 per cent of light vehicle sales by 2035 at the latest. But where are we now? Well, EVs are 86 per cent of new cars in Norway, and 17 per cent in Europe. In Australia they are only two per cent. Despite more than half of Australians indicating they would consider buying an EV, a decade of policy value and scaremongering means Australia is a long, long way behind.

Last week, I met with the UK Secretary of State for International Trade, the Electric Vehicle Council, and Tritium, which is an Australian-born EV battery charging company that is second in the world in making chargers for batteries across Europe and the US. I spoke also to several prominent car manufacturers to discuss how we could support the EV market in Australia. Their message was really clear: Australia is not an attractive market for international car manufacturers looking to sell EVs. Talk to anyone in my electorate trying to buy an EV and they will tell you the same—it's six to 12 months on a waitlist. That is because we don't have the right policy settings. In a supply constrained world, as we are currently in, this is a real challenge. And in an environment where global supply will be constrained for several years to come, care manufacturers are choosing to send their cars to the UK and Europe, not to Australia. We are right at the back of the queue, and there is a real risk that if we don't get the policy settings right, Australians will miss out on cheaper, greener forms of transport. Federal leadership is needed to turn this around. We must be bold, we must be ambitious and we must act now.

So what should EV policy look like? The first thing we should do is what almost every other developed country does—introduce proper fuel efficiency standards. Over the last decade, fuel efficiency standards have been committed to by many Australian governments and recommended by multiple inquiries and reports. They are effective and they are free for the taxpayer. But they are not in place. Yet the absence of government actions means all we have in place right now is a weak and opaque industry-led voluntary standard. This is a long way from the best practice seen in Europe. Sixty-five per cent of Australians support the introduction of standards in line with those in Europe. If we had adopted efficiency standards back in 2015, Australian families would have saved an estimated $5.9 billion in fuel costs and emissions equivalent to a year's worth of domestic flights. Why didn't we act then? Well, we can't change the past, but what we can change is the future. Action on this is a no-brainer. I'm pleased to see the government has taken on board feedback from myself and other crossbench members on this matter and is at least considering this, but they needed to move very swiftly and decisively to bring in fuel efficiency standards.

Secondly, we need real action on EV charging infrastructure not just in our highways but also in our cities. In my electorate of Wentworth, a high concentration of strata housing means that many people do not have garages or driveways. Many people are renting, and they're in apartments. They do not have the infrastructure to charge vehicles, nor the solar necessarily on the roofs. This needs to be addressed. Evidence from the US has found that charging infrastructure is one of the most cost-effective measures of driving EV uptake, and it is one that the government must invest in even more strongly. Some people in my electorate have taken creative approaches to solving this problem. The other day I was going for a run and I came across an electric cable strung from somebody's house, tied around a parking sign and down to their car, because they had no charging infrastructure options but they wanted to charge their EVs. We need to do better.

Finally, we need to have real incentives to make EVs affordable and to encourage supply constrained manufacturers to bring their cheap and clean cars to Australia. In Germany, rebates are available at 9,000 euros for each vehicle. In France, it's 6000 euros. Similar examples from other countries abound.

One of the most valuable parts of this bill is that it will actually encourage the second-hand market for EVs. I think that's absolutely crucial, because we need to make sure that EVs are available to those who can afford the higher prices which are currently being paid, but also that EVs become more affordable for Australians across the income spectrum. In this respect, I think the bill before the House is a reasonable start. And I welcome the willingness of the Treasurer and the Minister for Climate Change and Energy to discuss the bill with me and other members of the crossbench.

But let's be clear. The majority of vehicles do not attract fringe benefits tax, and so they're not eligible for the discount proposed by this bill. The impact on EVs across the country will therefore be modest. On its own, this bill will not promote sufficient sales to align with Australia's climate change targets or even the government's pre-election modelling. On its own, it will not be enough to significantly enhance our fuel security or to lower bills for families in the medium term, and these are absolute priorities.

However, my message is clear: we must decarbonise our transport system and we must act decisively and ambitiously in pursuit of this goal. It will be good for our climate, good for our security and good for Australian families. This bill is a step in the right direction, but it is only a small step. I look forward to working with the government on a much broader range of measures in the coming months, and I thank them for their constructive engagement thus far.

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