Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

The importance of that is that some states have legislation which specifically bans learner drivers and P-plate drivers from driving turbo-charged motor vehicles. It is a pity that Senator Fielding is not in here—and I accept that he cannot be everywhere at a particular time, so I am not being critical—because I would have thought that supporting an amendment such as this would be very unfriendly for those families that can afford only one car and in fact will use that car to teach their kids how to drive. They will not be able to use that motor vehicle and, once their child gets their licence, their child will not be able to use that car to pick up younger siblings. You will be forcing those people to buy a higher priced motor vehicle—let us hope that they buy Australian at least. The tax benefits that you are providing will not be for those families that require a motor vehicle for teaching their children to drive and then for the children to use that vehicle later on to pick up other family members. Do we have any progress on those other matters as yet, Minister?