Press conference, Melbourne, Victoria

Our community in Melbourne’s west is at the heart of one of the biggest logistics hubs in Australia. We’re located between the Port of Melbourne, Avalon Airport, and the Westgate Freeway. That means we get plenty of truck movement.

Some of the busiest freight routes in the country go through this community. We love that because it means jobs, it means economic activity in our suburbs. But also, as a local community, we know that we also experience the effects of that activity – air pollution, noise, traffic in our communities.

So I know that everyone in my electorate in Melbourne’s west is looking forward to an electric future for our freight industry. It will mean less air pollution, it means quieter freight movements, and a better experience for all of my constituents. So, on that note, I’m very happy to hand over to Chris Bowen to talk a little about this exciting announcement.

MINISTER FOR CLIMATE CHANGE AND ENERGY, CHRIS BOWEN: Thanks very much, Tim. As you said, this is win-win-win. This is good for the drivers because these are great trucks to drive.

It’s good for the local community – less air pollution, less noise. It’s good for the planet. A lot less emissions.

It’s good for energy security. One electric truck means we’re using 30,000 litres of diesel less a year, which is freeing up diesel for other users. So, this is a good day.

And the reason we partnered with Linfox is that this shows other companies it can be done. We can learn things as we go, about charging, about how best to set it up, and share those learnings with other companies as we reduce emissions and bills in transport and make heavy transport better for the environment. Our large country relies so much on trucking, and we want to make the trucking experience better for everyone, better for drivers, better for customers, better for the planet, and that’s what today does.

So it’s a great day. I want to thank Linfox for the partnership. Industry can’t do it alone, government can’t do it alone, but industry and government working together can get the job done.

And that’s what we’re doing today. Thanks We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of country throughout Australia and recognise their continuing connection to land, waters and culture. We pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.