Mark Baker (Braddon, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources. Would the minister update the House on the progress of Australian government alternative fuel initiatives? How have Australia’s alternative fuel industries responded to these initiatives?

Ian Macfarlane (Groom, Liberal Party, Minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Braddon for his question and for his strong support for alternative fuels. The news from the alternative fuel industry in Australia just keeps getting better and better. The LPG vehicle scheme, officially launched only 2½ weeks ago, continues to generate incredible community interest. At the close of business yesterday some 4,200 grants worth some $8.4 million had been approved to Australian motorists. And as the applications continue to roll in, more will, no doubt, be on the way.

The popularity of this program has, of course, seen increased demand for LPG conversions and it is a shame the member for Melbourne is not here to listen to this. The increase in demand, and in that respect the response from industry, has been very encouraging. Over the last three months industry capacity for LPG conversions has more than doubled. According to LPG Australia, there were 4,000 conversions in July, 8,000 in August and 11,000 in September. And this proves the basic economic point for the member for Melbourne and others opposite: when the demand for services grow, the supply will soon follow.

In addition to LPG installation there has been an increase in LPG installation courses offered by the TAFEs, and we look forward to industry capacity continuing to grow. While I am on the topic of industry growing capacity, we should not forget the tremendous gains that have been made in another important alternative fuel sector, the biofuels industry. The Howard government has put in place a suite of measures behind the biofuels sector.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Ian Macfarlane (Groom, Liberal Party, Minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Well, you’re the ones who killed it. The Labor Party went out of their way to kill the biofuels industry in Australia. Under this suite of measures we have seen a boost in consumer confidence, a boost in consumer uptake and an increase in industry capacity. The results of that investment speak for themselves. In the last 12 months production of transport ethanol in Australia has increased by more than 75 per cent. Over the last 12 months we have gone from 70 service stations selling ethanol blends to, now, 400. The government is well on track to reach its target of 350 megalitres of biofuel, and in fact we expect to exceed it.

This is all good news for the alternative fuel industry in Australia. It is growing—and that is good news for the industry, good news for the environment and good news for Australian motorists.