Fraser Anning (Queensland, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

In rising to speak to the Road Vehicle Standards Bill 2018 and related bills, I foreshadow that I will be moving a second reading amendment, which reads:

At the end of the motion, add:

", but the Senate:

(a) notes that, as part of its inquiry into Australia's Automotive Manufacturing Industry, the Productivity Commission recommended that the Government should progressively relax the restrictions on the importation of second-hand passenger and light commercial vehicles; and

(b) calls on the Government to relax import restrictions on second-hand cars to allow widespread wholesale importation of late model second-hand vehicles from countries such as Japan."

This second reading amendment that I will be moving to the Road Vehicle Standards Bill 2018 seeks to highlight the need to relax current restrictions on the importation of second-hand vehicles. Current import restrictions were originally put in place to help protect our domestic vehicle manufacturing industry but, since both the government and the opposition have decided that we don't need one, these restrictions are now redundant. All that these restrictions now serve to do is to push up the cost of private transport to Aussie battlers.

As part of the 2014 review of the Motor Vehicle Standards Act 1989, the Australian government engaged Castalia Strategic Advisors to evaluate the costs and benefits relating to the potential relaxation of the current vehicle import policy settings. The report identifies significant economic opportunities for reducing the current restrictions on the importation of used vehicles. In its conclusion, the Castalia review stated:

Deregulating the used import trade has the potential to unlock considerable economic net benefits. The economic analysis shows that the benefits outweigh the costs of deregulating the used import trade by … (up to) $1,943 million in NPV terms.

Whether the biggest impact is to increase the fleet size, to substitute for new car sales or increase the scrappage rate of old cars, the benefits outweigh the costs.

The review stated:

This result holds under all scenarios that we have modelled.

The simple fact is that relaxing import restrictions on late model second-hand cars and commercials would increase the supply in Australia, increasing competition amongst sellers and driving down prices. That means that people who struggle to buy and maintain a car today could then afford one. This is a direct and immediate improvement to the living standards of many hundreds of thousands of Australian working families who currently struggle to afford a reliable car. The only opponents of this measure are the new vehicle dealers, who see an increase in their supply of good, reliable second-hand cars as a threat to their own profits. Well, I say that the government isn't here to protect the profits of a minority at the expense of everyone else.

Currently in Japan, strict emission controls mean that car engines struggle to remain compliant after 30,000 or so kilometres. This means that there are ample late model cars which could be exported to countries such as Australia, facilitated by the fact that the Japanese drive on the same side of the road as us and so no vehicle steering conversions are required. Widespread importation of second-hand cars from the UK is also available.

As part of its inquiry into Australia's late automotive manufacturing industry, the Productivity Commission recommended that the government should relax the restrictions on importation of second-hand passenger and light commercial vehicles. So, if the government refuses to support the amendment I will be moving, it not only will be ignoring the economic benefits identified by its own independent inquiry but also will be rejecting the recommendations of the Productivity Commission. It is also rejecting the best interests of ordinary working families. So I call on the government and the Senate to adopt the recommendations of the Productivity Commission and the Castalia review and make reliable car ownership affordable for Australian working families.