PRIVATE MEMBERS' BUSINESS
Mr FRENCH (Moore) (17:05): I've spent a fair bit of my working life as an electrician. I've worked on construction sites, in the mining industry and with some pretty serious electrical equipment, so I can tell you something about electricity. It's not new technology.
We've been using it for quite a while now. In fact, some of us have even worked out a way to make a living out of it. But, listening to some of those opposite talk about electric vehicles, you'd think someone had just discovered electricity last Tuesday, and, judging by some of their policies, they're still not entirely convinced it's going to catch on.
The Liberal Party's relationship with electric vehicles is extraordinary. They don't like electric cars. They don't like the policies making electric cars cheaper.
They don't like charging infrastructure. I'm beginning to suspect that if someone invented the electric kettle today they'd call it a threat to the Australian way of life. Here is the problem with the coalition: Australians aren't listening to them.
In September, Australia passed half a million battery electric vehicles sold since the beginning of 2021. For the second month running, Australians bought more fully electric cars than petrol cars—more than diesel cars, too. One in four cars sold in September was fully electric, and electric vehicle sales have more than doubled compared with September last year.
I know those opposite don't particularly like evidence when it interferes with a good culture war, but the numbers are pretty hard to argue with. Australians are voting with their wallets—not because someone in Canberra ordered them to buy an electric car, not because they're all suddenly environmental activists, but because Australians can work out when something is going to save them money.
Apparently that has become a controversial concept in the Liberal Party. I represent Moore in Perth's northern suburbs. People in my electorate drive to work, take their kids to school, do the shopping and spend a fair bit of their life sitting in traffic.
What do they want? They want a car that's reliable, affordable and cheap to run. Some will choose petrol.
Some will choose diesel. Some will choose a hybrid, and, increasingly, some will choose electric. That's their decision.
The Albanese Labor government's job is to give them more choice. In May 2022, Australians had precisely zero electric car models available for under $45,000. Today there are eight.
That's what happens when you bring Australia into line with modern vehicle efficiency standards. Manufacturers start sending us the cars they're already selling in other developed countries. It's a remarkable concept: Australia getting access to technology that the rest of the world already enjoys.
The coalition have a different approach. Their plan is to scrap the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard. They want to get rid of the electric car discount.
When it comes to helping Australians reduce their energy bills, they seem to be determined to find a reason to oppose that too. It's almost as if they looked at the future and said: 'No. No thanks.
We want to go back to 1998.' Though, to be fair, in 1998 at least the Liberal Party knew who its leader was! There is another part of this debate I find particularly interesting. Those opposite spent years calling electric vehicles expensive toys for wealthy Australians, so Labor introduced a tax discount to help more working Australians afford them.
Now the coalition want to get rid of the discount. Apparently electric cars are too expensive, but making them cheaper is also unacceptable. That is not an energy policy.
That is a dog chasing its own tail. The Albanese government is continuing to improve the policy. We have reviewed the electric car discount and are progressively targeting the tax benefits towards more affordable vehicles while making the scheme more financially sustainable.
We're also investing in charging infrastructure, including in regional areas where access remains a challenge, because we understand something pretty basic: if Australians are going to have more choice about what they drive, they need both the vehicles and the infrastructure to support them. As a former electrician, I can assure the House that building electrical infrastructure is something Australia is perfectly capable of doing.
We've been pretty good at it for more than a century. Nobody in this government is suggesting that everyone has to buy an electric car tomorrow. If someone wants a diesel ute, good luck to them.
If someone wants a petrol car, that's their choice, and, if someone wants an electric vehicle because it's cheaper to run, why on earth would the government stand in their way? The difference between Labor and the coalition is simple: we want Australians to have more choices and lower running costs. They want to turn the family car into another culture war.
While they're busy arguing about whether electric vehicles should exist, Australians are buying them in record numbers. The future has arrived. Someone might want to run an extension cord across the— (Time expired)