The absurd fear campaign about electric cars hit a new level of utter shamelessness.
Scott Morrison is now at risk of a Joe Hockey moment. The Prime Minister seems to have a visceral reaction against electric vehicles,much like how the former Treasurer hated the sight of wind turbines.
Yet there is no evidence Australians are worried about new technology. This is a nation of early adopters. Where are the votes in stopping progress?
The petrol hybrid engine,mocked as virtue signalling a decade ago,is now in almost every taxi.
The weakness in the Labor policy is that it is a target searching for a practical plan.
Consider at least three reasons why any government should want to encourage electric cars. They reduce oil imports and improve the nation’s trade balance. They reduce demand for petrol and therefore ease Australia’s relative shortage of reserves at domestic refineries. They deliver a strategic benefit by using domestic rather than imported energy.
Morrison risks losing voters in the sensible centre by issuing these shrill warnings. While he may think he is copying Labor’s tactics from the last election,the car market is not Medicare.