Aussies up for billions at the bowser amid climate wars
Australians have been pumped for $4 billion extra for fuel in the past seven years for driving less-efficient cars and have been warned the bill is ticking up.
Australia is missing out on the cleanest, cheapest-to-run cars, according to the independent Climate Council. Photo: Tony Lewis/InDaily
The fuel bill for inaction on vehicle efficiency will accelerate without the adoption of effective new standards, the federal government warns.
Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen will tell an industry audience on Thursday to get behind the new vehicle efficiency standards that will force the car industry to import more efficient models.
Australia’s top-selling car maker Toyota is leading a pushback on the new rules that are set to take effect in 2025, saying few models sold here meet the standard, which is the point advocates have been making for years.
With more than 85 per cent of the world’s car market already covered by efficiency standards, Australia is missing out on the cleanest, cheapest-to-run cars, according to the independent Climate Council.
Effective standards would stop Australia being a “car park for clunkers” and could also unlock more models of electric vehicles – for households and businesses, advocates say.
The former coalition government proposed vehicle efficiency standards, saying it would cut petrol bills, but parked the policy amid party ructions after consultations with industry ended seven years ago.
“We supported them from opposition, but they couldn’t get it past the climate-denying right-wing of their own party,” according to Bowen.
“Australians have since wasted around $4 billion unnecessarily on fuel,” he will tell the Smart Energy 2024 expo.
The fuel bill is ticking higher, with Labor’s preferred model of standards forecast to save motorists $12 billion in fuel costs by 2030 and $108 billion by 2050.
Other speakers on Thursday include former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, who once proposed an emissions cap on car makers, and former competition watchdog head Rod Sims.
The two-day conference has already taken a swing at Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s plan to have nuclear power stations replace coal-fired power plants.
“Coalition MPs should come and see Australia’s world-leading renewables on display,” Smart Energy Council chief executive John Grimes said.
“Nuclear options for the Australian grid won’t be viable until the 2040s at the earliest,” Grimes said.
Meanwhile, Wentworth MP Allegra Spender has called for new measures in the federal budget in May to give more Australians access to renewable energy at their home or business.
– AAP
