Monique Ryan (Kooyong, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

RYAN () (): My question is for the minister for infrastructure and transport. The ABC recently reported that major car companies are lobbying for multiplier loopholes in the government's fuel efficiency standards. This would distort the reporting so that it would look like they were selling more EVs than they actually are. Will the minister formally commit to avoiding these multiplier loopholes in the government's forthcoming fuel efficiency standards?

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

I thank the member for Ryan for the question. I know that this is an important issue not only for her and for her electorate of Kooyong but also to the whole country. We know that the Albanese government want Australian households and businesses to reap the benefits of modern, cheaper low-emissions cars. Australia, alongside Russia, is one of the two countries that does not have fuel-efficiency standards, and we have, frankly, the previous government to thank for that legacy.

The Australian government has committed to introducing a fuel-efficiency standard. Designing a fuel efficiency standard is quite a complicated process, and that's why I've been meeting with a range of stakeholders. Yesterday I met with ACOSS to talk about how important it is that people on low incomes benefit from electric vehicles and how we might work on that together. There are fuel-efficiency standards globally that include the use of multiplier credits, which some have described—as you have done—as loopholes. In our consultation we examined the full range of fuel-efficiency standard models across the world, but so far we have not committed to one model. There will be an opportunity for stakeholders to review and discuss the options further when the government releases its impact analysis. I'm very determined that we will have a fuel-efficiency standard that improves consumer access to cleaner, cheaper-to-run cars that save consumers money. It's incredibly important they do that, particularly at the bowser while assisting Australia to reduce its carbon emissions.

When it comes to closing loopholes, that may be exploited by car manufacturers. We haven't taken our eye off the ball. In fact, just after question time, the Prime Minister and I and the Minister for Energy will be talking about the $14 million funding program to test the real-world emissions of vehicles to ensure that consumers do understand how much a vehicle will cost to run before they purchase it and what its real emissions will be. This information will be absolutely critical to supporting households and businesses looking to buy more sustainable cars and cheaper-to-run vehicles. That is what this fuel efficiency is all about—making sure we have access to cheaper-to-run vehicles across all levels of our income spectrum in this country.

The government have released our first National Electric Vehicle Strategy, delivering on our commitment to provide greater choice for Australians to drive cars that are cleaner and cheaper to run.