King said the government would learn from international experiences and Australia’s pollution caps would be designed for the “unique” needs of the Australian market and as they would apply only to new vehicles,motorists would not be forced to ditch their current vehicles.
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“What fuel efficiency standards don’t do is they don’t mandate that you have to get rid of your ute,they don’t mandate that you have to get rid of your diesel car. They don’t mandate the sort of car that you have.
“What they do is they provide an incentive for car manufacturers to send their latest and cleanest vehicles here into Australia,” she said.
Carmakers are warning that Australia will become a global dumping ground for old,dirty car models unless Australia matches the ambitions of the United States. US PresidentJoe Biden last week announced reforms that are forecast to cut the country’s total emissions by 40 per cent by the end of the decade.
The US scheme is designed to boost the sales of electric vehicles by 1000 per cent so that they account for 67 per cent of new passenger cars sold in the US by 2032,although EVs only captured 6 per cent of America’s new car sales last year. It also imposes stricter emissions standards on new truck sales.
The Coalition indicated on Wednesday it was open to supporting Labor’s reform,saying it will review the strategy before finalising its position.
“We support Australians to embrace next-generation clean technologies including electric vehicles,” opposition climate change and energy spokesman Ted O’Brien said.
The former Morrison government ruled out fuel efficiency standards and focused instead on funding EV charging infrastructure and reforms to encourage industry to purchase plug-in hybrids and battery electric cars.
Without opposition support,the government would need the backing of the Greens and two crossbenchers to pass the standards through the Senate,where independent ACT senator David Pocock is set to push the government to match the US’ measures.
The Greens and the Smart Energy Council criticised the government for not setting a deadline for pollution caps.
“We now have a roadmap but with no clear destination. The government needs to set electric vehicle targets and get moving on implementing strong fuel efficiency standards,” Greens leader Adam Bandt said.
Electric Vehicle Council chief executive Behyad Jafari welcomed the government’s commitment to mandatory pollution caps but urged it to match the US plan.
“We’ll have fossil fuel car lobbyists arguing for weaker standards,this is their playbook,” Jafari said.
“For car companies,this is about global investment decisions and having weak standards in Australia sends a signal they should use us as a dumping ground.”
However,the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries,which has backed mandatory fuel efficiency standards,questioned if Australia can afford to match the US.
“Any future emissions standard is not a simplistic copy of an overseas standard,” the Chamber’s chief executive Tony Weber said.
Opposition transport spokesperson Bridget McKenzie said she did not trust the government to abide by its commitment to not apply the standards to existing vehicles.
“They have only released a consultation document,and we must wait to see what they deliver in the final outcome,” she said.
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