Alison Byrnes (Cunningham, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) acknowledges that the Government has taken decisive action to support Australians into cheaper to run cars through the Treasury Laws Amendment (Electric Car Discount) Act 2022 and the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard Act 2024;

(2) notes that as a result:

(a) the share of new vehicles sold that are electric or plug-in hybrid has grown from under 2 per cent in April 2022 to 27.5 per cent in April 2026, equivalent to 515 Australians buying an electric vehicle (EV) every day, compared with just 29 a day four years ago;

(b) the total number of EV models available in Australia has nearly tripled over the past three and a half years, with models available under $40,000 growing from just 2 to more than 10;

(c) nearly half of all new light vehicles sold in April 2026 were electric, plug-in hybrid or hybrid, up from just one in ten in April 2022;

(3) welcomes the Government's commitment to build on this progress by reforming the fringe benefits tax exemption for electric vehicles, continuing to put cheaper to run cars within reach of more Australian families; and

(4) acknowledges that it is because the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard has succeeded in bringing more affordable EVs to market that the Government is now able to focus its EV tax cut on those affordable models.

The people of the Illawarra know renewable energy is the future. It's cheaper and it's cleaner, and the same is true for electric vehicles. They drive down emissions, and they save thousands of dollars in petrol costs over the life of the car. Thanks to the Albanese Labor government, electric vehicles are becoming more affordable, driving a huge surge in EV purchases. It is absolutely clear that the new vehicle efficiency standard is working. More EVs and low-emissions vehicles are entering the market than ever before. This standard helped bring Australia into line with the rest of the world, making Australia a new target market for more electric vehicle manufacturers. Our tax-saving initiatives for EVs have also encouraged more people to purchase low-emissions vehicles by reducing upfront costs. The statutory review of the electric car discount showed that, thanks to our policies, there are now more models to choose from at a greater range of prices, making EVs more affordable and accessible to everyday Australians. Treasury estimates almost 100,000 vehicles have benefited from the fringe benefit tax exemption. We know that in May this year there was an EV purchased every two minutes. That's compared to every 45 minutes four years ago—a truly incredible uptake. In the Wollongong local government area, there are more than 11,000 registered hybrid, plug-in hybrid and battery electric vehicles.

These figures are not by accident; they are the result of a government that has put the right policy settings in place to allow more electric vehicles to enter our market—a choice for consumers and more affordable prices. In fact, our policies have been so successful at delivering a market with more choice that we've refocused the fringe benefits tax exemption to EVs that cost under $75,000. This is not something we could have done three years ago, because there simply were not enough vehicles available in that price range. Now there are. At the same time, we're helping more local people charge their cars at home for free, thanks to more than 2,500 cheaper home batteries across the Cunningham electorate. From 1 July, our Solar Sharer Offer will see all households provided with three hours of free power every day—extremely handy for charging up electric vehicles for free.

Australians are embracing cleaner and cheaper forms of power for their homes, for their businesses and for their cars. Across the Illawarra, we've got an ever-increasing supply of fast chargers, including two on public lands, thanks to Wollongong City Council and the NRMA. Council has also recently installed a range of kerbside chargers mounted on power poles in Wollongong, Thirroul and Austinmer. Installed in partnership with EVX Australia and Endeavour Energy, these chargers are powered by 100 per cent renewable energy, helping electric vehicle owners charge up on the go. I was pleased to also spot some EV charging stations at the new social and affordable apartment block that the Housing Trust opened in the heart of Wollongong just last week at Warruya. Supported by the Housing Australia Future Fund and NSW government and council funding, these charging stations will help families in need to reduce their petrol costs with cheaper, cleaner electric vehicles. It's really great to see, and I'd like to congratulate the Housing Trust for this important inclusion.

In the Illawarra, we are not just adopting this technology; we are helping to drive the innovation behind it. As we shift to a clean energy future and we electrify more of our technology, having the battery power to back it up is absolutely crucial.

Sicona Battery Technologies is pioneering the next generation of battery materials and creating a sovereign battery supply chain. Their innovative technology, created in the Illawarra, can reduce battery charging times by 40 per cent, which is simply incredible. Their technology is compatible with existing global manufacturing infrastructure, it improves the performance of lithium ion batteries, it's cost effective, and it's scalable. These are batteries that will power the electric vehicles of the future. They will be essential for clean energy storage, and they were founded in the Illawarra. Sicona is a vital part of our local, innovative, advanced manufacturing industry, supporting local jobs and contributing to the Future Made in Australia—and in the Illawarra.

It is our government that has delivered the right policy settings to unlock a future where electric vehicles are within reach for more Australians. They are cheaper and cleaner, they bring down costs and emissions, and they are delivered by the Albanese Labor government.

Andrew Wilkie (Clark, Independent) | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Ben Small (Forrest, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Electoral Matters) | Link to this | Hansard source

We find ourselves in here to have a pretty extraordinary debate. For the first time—I think in Australian history—the government is taxing Australians and sending that money to China. You heard right. Under the Labor government's car and ute tax, ordinary Australians are being penalised for driving petrol or diesel internal combustion cars, and the money that they are being levied is being dispatched to Chinese manufacturers of EVs.

If that wasn't extraordinary enough, we also find ourselves listening to Labor MPs crowing about the fringe benefits tax exemptions that have been afforded to EVs in recent years. Those same exemptions made a Tesla cheaper for a surgeon than for a nurse. That is an appalling breach of faith against the Australian people, and I do think it is extraordinary that the government continues to defend the indefensible when it comes to EVs.

Admittedly, with all of these subsidies and taxpayer funded largesse, EV uptake has increased. Indeed, from a very low starting point, it just crept above 12 per cent for the 2025 year in car sales, which still means that the overwhelming majority of Australians are purchasing internal combustion engine vehicles. Indeed, in my part of the world and that of the member for Grey, here, our communities rely on internal combustion engines, whether it's for travelling the vast distances in our electorates, getting around the farm or lugging the boat down to enjoy the pristine waters of Geographe Bay on a weekend. These are the choices that Australians ought to be able to make for themselves without facing a tax impost or a fee levy from the Albanese Labor government.

We find ourselves now with about 410,000 EVs in Australia compared to the many millions of conventional cars that Australians still choose overwhelmingly to purchase for their own use. The government is overstating, I think, how widespread and accessible the transition really is, because upfront cost remains a major and ongoing barrier for many households considering an EV. This is because EVs typically cost between $10,000 and $15,000 more than a comparable petrol model.

That price difference is particularly significant at a time when families are dealing with sustained cost-of-living pressures, fuelled by the Albanese government's out-of-control spending and the inflation that it is causing, which is running rampant in the economy and seeing the worst decline in living standards in the developed world. The government's claims about affordability are not being felt in the community. That's because, when it comes to the Labor Party, you must look at what they do, not listen to what they say.

Many Australians don't have the capability to reach into their pockets and fork out for an expensive EV and an expensive charger, because any savings from running an EV depend heavily on access to cheap and reliable charging. That necessarily means that renters, apartment residents and those without off-street parking face real and ongoing barriers to cheap and reliable charging. Those challenges are even more pronounced in regional and rural communities like mine. Australia has currently got an estimated 1,500 fast-charging sites nationwide. For a country as large and as decentralised as Australia, that network is still very thin, representing less than two chargers available per 10,000 people in the country.

But the bigger issue is not the number of chargers but where they are actually located, because most charging infrastructure is concentrated in the capital cities and not out in the regions, where my community live. Only one-third of towns have access to a charger within 20 kilometres, and more than two-thirds of towns have no charger at all within five kilometres. That means there are stretches of hundreds of kilometres without access to a single fast charger, which makes EV ownership totally impractical for regional Australians, who rely more heavily on the types of utes, four-wheel drives and other internal combustion vehicles I referred to earlier.

For the government to crow about a scheme which, as I said, made Teslas cheaper for surgeons than for nurses and to throw hundreds of millions of dollars a year—and climbing—towards Chinese manufacturers, money that was taken from hardworking Australians, it does expose this EV fantasy for what it really is.

Tim Watts (Gellibrand, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

Point Cook, in my electorate, is known for a few things. It's Australia's biggest suburb and Australia's most multicultural suburb. It's the No. 1 postcode in Australia for internet shopping, and, of any suburb in Australia, it has the second-highest uptake of the Albanese government's EV discount. Residents of Point Cook know a bargain when they see it. EV discounts are one of the myriad of ways that this government is building a cleaner, cheaper and more reliable energy system in Australia.

Let's look at the progress. Over the past year, Australia's emissions have fallen by 9.7 million tonnes. The decline has been driven by more renewable energy, cleaner cars and practical emissions reduction. In this year's budget, we announced that we are supporting the single biggest boost to Australia's main energy grid, with new renewable energy projects, and by 2030 these projects will supply enough electricity for four million Australian households. We've also been delivering the Albanese government's Cheaper Home Batteries Program. Through this program, Australian households, businesses and community organisations can get a discount of around 30 per cent on the upfront cost of installing a range of small-scale battery systems. Under the Cheaper Home Batteries Program, more than 400,000 households have installed a cheaper home battery. Around half of them have also installed new or upgraded their solar systems at the same time, and they can recharge an EV with their solar systems. In my community, 1,600 households have already made the switch using the subsidy. Many of these households have slashed up to 90 per cent off their energy bills, and we've already had over 20,000 solar panel installations in my electorate, in Melbourne's west.

Australians want cheaper, cleaner energy, and we're taking up renewables faster than anywhere else in the world is. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the adoption of electric vehicles. We have supported Australians into cheaper-to-run cars through the Treasury Laws Amendment (Electric Car Discount) Act and the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard Act. The electric car discount is a full exemption from FBT for EVs under $75,000, pushing car companies to offer more affordable choices. Almost 100,000 vehicles have already benefited from an FBT tax exemption. On top of that, we've discounted EVs further by making them fully exempt from import tax. Our government's new vehicle efficiency standard incentivises car companies to supply more efficient vehicles, and this includes hybrid, plug-in hybrid and more-efficient petrol and diesel vehicles. Last month, the sales figures showed that 30 per cent of cars sold in May were electric or plug-in hybrid. More Australians bought EVs in the last quarter than in any previous quarter.

Under the coalition government, Australia was missing out on access to these choices, putting us in the same basket as Russia for fuel efficiency standards. Under the last government, we were the dumping ground for expensive cars that the rest of the world just didn't want. Four years later, our reforms mean that it's now cheaper than ever to make the switch to electric, and we're seeing the consequences of our reforms.

When we came into office, Australians bought an electric vehicle once every 45 minutes; now it's once every two minutes. The share of new vehicles sold which are electric or plug-in hybrid has jump started, from under two per cent in April 2022 to 27.5 per cent in April 2026. In that four-year window, Australians went from buying 29 EVs every day to buying 515. Put simply, the total number of EV models available in Australia has nearly tripled in that period of time. My community has done even better in those four years. We've experienced 453 per cent growth in hybrids and 2,482 per cent growth in EVs. Consider all of this growth that we've experienced: this happened after the previous government did nothing on EVs and left Australia's renewable energy policy empty, on a dead battery. Since 2022, the Albanese government has not only caught up, but has completely recharged renewable energy policy in Australia.

It's quite extraordinary sometimes to listen to those opposite talk about EV policy. They seem to really hate Australians getting a bargain and reducing their costs, if it comes through an electric vehicle. It really is extraordinary to listen to.

But, if you vote against these EV discounts, you're voting against people in my community saving money. You're voting against helping them in this cost-of-living crisis. For those in my community, those reforms mean cheaper cars and more off your energy bill.

EV models available for under $40,000 have grown from just two in 2022 to more than 10 today. It's no wonder there's been this 2,482 per cent growth in EVs in my electorate in Melbourne's west—in an outer suburb in Melbourne's west—and it'll only go up from here. It's all part of our government's plan to address the immediate cost-of-living pressures our community is facing, at the same time as we deliver support for Australian families. Unlike the coalition, the Australian people know that what's good for the planet can be good for your pocket too. I'm proud of a government that's embraced Australia's clean energy advantage. I'm delighted to see Point Cook taking up EVs faster than just about anywhere in the country. (Time expired)

Monique Ryan (Kooyong, Independent) | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for the Illawarra for moving this motion. The share of new vehicles sold that are electric or plug-in hybrid has grown from less than two per cent in April 2022 to almost 30 per cent today, and that exponential growth in clean transport sales now sees 515 Australians buy an EV every single day, compared to only 29 four years ago.

I support this progress towards cleaner, cheaper transport, and I support policies which put zero emission vehicles within reach of all Australians. So I commend the government on retaining the fringe benefits tax exemption on electric vehicles in the May budget. That's something that I have advocated for, to the economic roundtable last year and prior to this budget. I'm glad to see that that advocacy has succeeded. But I'm concerned that the Albanese government plans to scale back the FBT exemption from 1 April next year. The FBT exemption has been one of the most effective levers driving EV uptake. Right now, the FBT exemption is available for all eligible vehicles below the luxury car tax threshold of $91,387, but, from 1 April 2027, only EVs costing less than $75,000 will be eligible for that full exemption, and, from 1 April 2029, EVs under $75,000 will receive only a 25 per cent discount on payable fringe benefits tax.

I support targeted tax concessions and I support sustainable budget management, but not at the cost of withdrawing support at exactly the time that the EV market needs the confidence to grow. In the year to date the Tesla Model Y has been the most popular EV sold in Australia, with more than 10,000 units shipped. Some versions of this model cost close to $90,000. If we limit the fringe benefits tax exemption to cars priced at less than $75,000, we risk discouraging uptake of some of the most popular EV brands in Australia.

Globally, Australia remains an electric vehicle laggard. To grow our share of cleaner, cheaper vehicles, we have to remain an attractive market for manufacturers, and we have to foster a bigger second-hand market. If the FBT exemption is narrowed too quickly and too aggressively, before a critical mass of affordable models is really established, then that EV transition could stall.

I'm also calling for the government to reconsider restrictions on P-platers driving EVs. Anomalous regulatory settings mean that new drivers can legally drive three-tonne RAM 1500 pick-ups but not Model Y Teslas. Regulations based on a single measure—power to weight—which don't consider other safety characteristics of cars have resulted in a perverse outcome, which governments need to consider, review and revise.

We do need to continue to improve EV infrastructure, in Kooyong and across the country. Range anxiety remains real. It's particularly problematic for renters, for apartment dwellers and for those travelling through or living in rural and regional areas.

The government has to do more to build public charging infrastructure. We need binding targets. We need investment in fast charging along all the major transport corridors. We need standards requiring charging capability in all new apartment buildings. We can do these things. We can invest in ongoing FBT exemptions and in EV-charging infrastructure. Instead, the Albanese government continues to provide more than $10 billion every year to fuel tax credits which disproportionately benefit large fossil-fuel-intensive industries. If we are serious about incentivising the clean energy transition, we have to stop subsidising fossil fuel industries when we should be helping them decarbonise.

I will always support genuine progress on electrification. But this parliament's job is not to applaud. It's not to navel-gaze. It is to scrutinise. On the FBT exemption, on charging infrastructure and on fuel tax settings, this government still has a lot of work to do. EVs can't stall, but progress can. I urge the minister to go even harder to drive EV uptake.

Tom French (Moore, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise in support of this motion. This debate is often made far more complicated than it needs to be. It is not about telling Australians what they must drive; it is about giving Australians more choice, more competition and cheaper options to run. If someone wants to drive a petrol car, they can. If someone needs a diesel ute for work, they can get one. If someone wants an electric vehicle, they should be able to buy one at a competitive price, with proper charging infrastructure and without Australia being treated as an afterthought by the global car market. That is what the Albanese Labor government is doing. We've cut taxes on electric vehicles, we've introduced the new vehicle efficiency standard and we are investing in charging infrastructure. We are bringing Australia into line with the rest of the developed world. Australian families should not be left with fewer choices, older technology and higher fuel bills because our market was allowed to fall behind.

When we talk about electric vehicles, batteries, charging and the grid, I do not just hear a policy debate. As a qualified electrician, I see switchboards, metres, cabling, apprentices, tradespeople, workshops and service vehicles. This is a real transition in the way households and businesses use energy. Australians already understand that because they live with rooftop solar. Families have looked at power bills, looked at their roofs and made a practical decision. They did not wait for permission from Canberra. They have done it because it stacks up. Today, rooftop solar is providing more than 10 per cent of Australia's electricity, and that is a remarkable achievement. It is not just about technology; it is about households taking control of their energy costs.

Electric vehicles are part of that same change. More homes have solar. More homes are installing batteries. More families are thinking about how they can use power generated here rather than petrol bought at the bowser and priced through international markets. And there is a pretty simple advantage in that. The sun over Joondalup does not get delayed in the Strait of Hormuz. The wind off Sorrento Beach does not check the oil price before it turns up to work. That is the practical benefit of using more Australian energy generated here to run more of our homes and our vehicles.

This matters in the outer suburbs and the regions. In places like Joondalup, Edgewater, Currambine and Iluka, and across all of Perth's northern suburbs, people drive long distances for work, school, sport and family commitments. Fuel costs are a real weekly household expense. People who drive further should have more options to save on fuel, not fewer.

This is why the new vehicle efficiency standard matters. It is not about forcing anyone into a particular car; it is about making sure manufacturers bring their best, most efficient and most affordable vehicles to Australia. For too long, Australia was at the back of the queue. Other countries got the cleaner, cheaper-to-run models first, while Australia was expected to take whatever was left. That is not good enough. The standard is helping change that. More electric, hybrid and efficient vehicles are coming into the Australian market. There is more choice and there is more competition, and more of those choices are becoming realistic for working households.

The electric car discount has also helped. It has made electric vehicles more accessible, including through novated leases and workplace arrangements. Early support helps build a market, but it also needs to be fair and sustainable. That is why the government is refocusing the discount over time towards more affordable vehicles. This should not be seen to be about subsidising luxury cars; it is about bringing cheaper-to-run vehicles within reach of more Australians.

We're also investing in the infrastructure needed to make this work. Chargers matter. Regional black spots matter. Kerbside charging matters. Dealerships, repairers and servicing capability matter. As a former electrician, I know this much: the wires do not connect themselves. You need skilled workers, proper standards and a plan that goes beyond a headline.

Those opposite say they support choice, but they would abolish the new vehicle efficiency standard. They would abolish the electric vehicle tax cut. They would abolish the support for home batteries. In other words, they support choice right up until Australians start choosing something they do not like. They cannot say they want lower fuel bills while opposing the policies that give Australians access to more efficient cars. They cannot say they back households while trying to keep Australians at the back of the global vehicle queue. That is what this government is doing, and it's why I support the motion.

Tom Venning (Grey, Liberal Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

Let's be very clear. The recent uptick in EV consumption in the last couple of months is because the Australian people do not trust this prime minister and this energy minister to manage the crisis in Iran. This government has worked aggressively to move primarily metropolitan Australians into electric cars. But at what cost?

Electric vehicles have an excellent application in our modern cities, especially due to regenerative braking, and will continue to become more widespread. However, we must ground this argument and this debate in physics and engineering, not ideology. I remain highly critical of their limited application in regional and industrial settings because heavy electric transport trucks, mining trucks, tractors and regional passenger transport face massive logistical limitations, and crucial charging infrastructure remains a vast, unresolved barrier for regional communities.

Take me, for example. As the member for Grey, I drive about 100,000 kilometres a year. Could I perform this job in an EV? Absolutely not. With the range alone—going from Port Lincoln to Ceduna, Ceduna to Whyalla, Whyalla to Coober Pedy—I couldn't even get to those communities, let alone find a charger along the way. To cut a long story short—this is not revolutionary—they simply do not work in the bush and won't work for some time. Until the energy density of batteries can be comparable to hydrocarbons, batteries will remain unfit for purpose in industrial applications and in long distance transport, particularly in regional communities. EVs are not fit for purpose, and it is completely unacceptable that Labor's family car tax and ute tax subsidise city based doctors and lawyers at the expense of tradies who need that ute to perform their task or that farmer who needs that tractor to do their job.

My focus is also on the deeply concerning influx of Chinese electric vehicles and cheap Chinese batteries. We must honestly ask why these vehicles are suddenly so affordable, and it is not simply because of the self-professed brilliance of Labor-Greens policies. Chinese vehicle exports surged by 69 per cent in May. Why? It was because of the crisis in Iran and the lack of confidence that Australians have in this government's ability to manage the crisis but also because the domestic electric vehicle sales in China dropped by four per cent. So, to aggressively offset their softer local sales, Chinese manufacturers are leaning much harder into overseas markets. The Americans aren't taking their cars, so they're bringing them to Australia. Consequently, Chinese brands now account for 57 per cent of the EV market in Australia, up from 33 per cent just last year.

This state backed product dumping is rapidly destroying genuine fair competition. They're dumping to take over the market and are being paid handsomely for doing so. This is the truth of this prime minister and minister for climate change and energy's net zero pipedream: it punishes Australians and enriches the Chinese Communist Party. Just as it was with solar panels which are produced in China, with our metals and our resources, and sold back to us, so it is with electric vehicles. Half of all cars sold between now and 2035 have to be EVs to meet our net zero target. That won't happen. But at this rate China will become very, very rich from it.

Cybersecurity experts warn that the rapid uptake of these foreign devices actively places our critical infrastructure at risk of international hijack. In more ways than one, Labor's current policies are fundamentally at odds with national security imperatives as they pertain to China. Chinese manufacturers account for 70 per cent of the home battery market, while 80 per cent of new EV arrivals are also built in China. Shouldn't we be worried? Even the Minister for Home Affairs, Tony Burke, was warned by his own department to take precautions, while driving his own Chinese EV, to protect the secrets of our nation. What are we doing here?

The current flood of electric vehicles is not a miracle of the free market or of good policy. It is aggressive Chinese product dumping, and we need to get a handle on it. (Time expired)

Andrew Wilkie (Clark, Independent) | Link to this | Hansard source

The time allotted for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned, and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.