Rex Patrick (SA, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is for the Minister representing the Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction, Senator Seselja. The federal government promised to release the electric vehicle strategy in 2019. It didn't come. Neither did it come in 2020. We now find ourselves in 2021, still waiting. The vacuum in federal leadership on electric vehicles is now being filled by state and territory and even local governments going ahead with their own disjointed plans. This is somewhat reminiscent of Australia's rail track fiasco, which resulted in the country having a mismatch of narrow-, standard- and broad-gauged rail scattered across the nation. Just how long will it take for the Morrison government to come up with a national strategy for electric vehicles? What is the delay to this important strategy?

Zed Seselja (ACT, Liberal Party, Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Patrick, for the question. The Morrison government is committed to enabling consumer choice when it comes to new vehicle and fuel technologies. This follows its 'technology not taxes' approach to reducing emissions.

To directly answer your question, we are developing a future fuels strategy that considers all new technologies. This is not only for EVs. This includes hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, hybrids and biofuels. We've been working to ensure that the strategy is well-informed. To ensure industry has been widely consulted, we will release a discussion paper in the very near future that will help inform the strategy.

And we've already put our money where our mouth is with our $74.5 million Future Fuels Package as part of the budget. This backs funding already committed through ARENA and CEFC, including $21 million for two EV-charging networks and $11.7 million for focusing on smart charging and tools to make it easier for motorists and businesses to purchase new technology vehicles. This includes projects like $838,000 for Origin Energy to install 150 smart chargers at homes and workplaces across the National Electricity Market. And $3.5 million has gone to JET Charge to develop smart-charging technology that will help make charging more user-friendly, and will better integrate EVs into the electricity grid.

Opposition Senator:

An opposition senator interjecting—

Zed Seselja (ACT, Liberal Party, Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm always amused when I get Seth Rogen over there interjecting, but I will keep going. We are serious about accelerating the uptake of new technologies and ensuring consumer choice is supported.