Andrew Hastie (Canning, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

There's one thing you can guarantee when the Labor Party comes into government, and that's higher taxes. Australians are grappling with a cost-of-living crisis and now Labor is coming for their cars.

The last thing that Australians need right now is a new tax on new utes and family vehicles. Labor's new car tax will add thousands of dollars to the price of new SUVs, utes and four-wheel drives to subsidise the cost of electric vehicles for those who can afford them and those who don't travel far to make a living. If you're dreaming of buying a LandCruiser, that'll go up by $25,000. A Ford Ranger, the bestselling car in Australia, will be an extra $6,150. My family gets around in a Ford Everest, like many local families I know. Families need big cars to get around in, as I saw last week when I dropped off and picked my children up from school. In the car park there I saw Rangers, HiLuxes, a D-MAX, Prados, Outlanders and other vehicles. Tradies and farmers rely on utes for work.

The climate change minister is failing to meet his 82 per cent renewables plan, so he's proposing reckless plans like this, and he doesn't care that it's going to make things harder for regular Australians. It's going to put many family cars out of reach for families who save for these vehicles.

The cost-of-living crisis is here. Interest rates are up, rents are up, groceries are up and bills are up. Families and tradies don't need any more financial pressure than they are already feeling.

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