Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Wills for the question. Of course, earlier today, the minister for climate change and I stood with representatives of Toyota, Hyundai, Tesla, the Motor Trades Association of Australia, the Australian Automotive Dealer Association and the Electric Vehicle Council to announce a new vehicle efficiency standard that is right for this country. After extensive consultation, we have released a model that delivers Australians more choice of new cars. It will save Australians thousands of dollars at the bowser—$95 billion less in petrol out to 2050. It will reduce the emissions that come from the cars that we drive, and it's a model where Australians can continue to buy the utes and the SUVs that we all love.

As we know, a new vehicle efficiency standard is not a new thing. It has been coalition policy for over a quarter of a century, with John Howard, back in 2001, stating that the coalition was negotiating a new fuel efficiency standard for motor vehicles to reduce the amount of fuel consumed per kilometre travelled. Yet the Howard government, of course, could not deliver one. It's a policy that the then Abbot-Turnbull government, and the Morrison government as well, with the member for Bradfield trying, with our support—it is becoming increasingly important that we harmonise our approaches to vehicle emissions with those in place in other countries. They were unable to actually deliver.

This government is delivering what the Liberals and Nationals could not: a new vehicle efficiency standard that is right for Australia, with legislation to be introduced into this place tomorrow. We've undertaken extensive consultation with the industry and the community and have incorporated sensible amendments and suggestions that make improvements to our preferred option, whilst ensuring a sustainable and effective standard. A limited number of four-wheel drives, such as the Toyota Land Cruiser—a great vehicle—and the Nissan Patrol, regarded as workhorse vehicles will move from the passenger car category into the light commercial category.

We're smoothing the emissions trajectory for light commercial vehicles, taking into account both the recently announced changes in the US and the different range of credits that are available there.

See this speech in context