Electric Vehicles

Mr MALINAUSKAS (Croydon—Leader of the Opposition) (14:22): My question is to the Premier. Is the Premier aware his own budget papers say that his electric car tax will include a variable charge based on distance travelled?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for West Torrens is on two warnings.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN (Stuart—Minister for Energy and Mining) (14:23): Mr Speaker—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The Minister for Energy and Mining has the call.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Mr Speaker, there is—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, members on my right!

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: —no doubt whatsoever the Premier knows everything that's in the budget. He knows absolutely everything that is in the budget, and if those opposite—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: —could put together a cogent question on any topic, he will be on top of it without any doubt whatsoever. So this charge—currently, petrol and diesel vehicle drivers pay a charge towards the road maintenance and road network development through the purchase of fuel. Directly, the purchase of fuel goes to the kilometres travelled; it goes to their share of their use of the road. We are applying exactly the same logic. Exactly the same logic is how this will be rolled out. More information will be available—

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis: No. That's a commonwealth tax; this is a state tax. They're different.

The SPEAKER: Member for West Torrens! The minister has the call.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: More information will be available for those opposite. This is a very small part of our $18.9 million expenditure to help bring down the cost of electric vehicles and to help increase and develop the charging network.

Members opposite think they have found one tiny chink of a problem. It is not true—it is absolutely not true. This is a very positive rollout. This is being done overseas. This will be done in other states in Australia. It will be done by Labor governments in other states in Australia.

We are working on developing the electric vehicle charging network. We have a draft of where that will be already. We have money on the table to partner with industry to invest in this new network. We are using our own purchasing capacity through Fleet SA to buy electric vehicles. That has already started and will only accelerate.

It shouldn't be a surprise to the Leader of the Opposition that it is entirely appropriate to have a charge such as this connected directly to the kilometres travelled. That makes perfect sense. It is how it works now and it is how it will work in the future. This is, again, a part of our overall program.

One of the things that is part of this important program is the capacity for the uptake of electric vehicles to reduce the cost of electricity for everybody in South Australia, whether they have an electric vehicle or not. This is already happening overseas. The cost of electricity across—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: I know they don't understand. They don't understand. It is way past them. It is modelled. It is—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The minister has the call.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: It has been modelled overseas—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for West Torrens will cease interjecting. The member for Wright is warned for a second time. The minister has the call.

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for West Torrens can leave for 20 minutes under 137A. The minister has the call.

The honourable member for West Torrens having withdrawn from the chamber:

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: The uptake of electric vehicles across South Australia will help to decrease the cost of electricity for all South Australians, even those who don't have electric vehicles. It is a fact. It may have gone over the heads of those opposite, but the $3 million going towards smart charging technology is exactly what is going to help other people across South Australia. There are many positive facets to this program.

The SPEAKER: Before I call the member for King, I warn the member for Mawson and I call to order and warn the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport.