Electric Vehicles

The Hon. S.C. MULLIGHAN (Lee) (14:54): My question is to the Minister for Energy. How will the government be informed of the distance travelled by an electric vehicle so that the variable charge based on the distance travelled can be applied by the government as the tax?

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN (Stuart—Minister for Energy and Mining) (14:54): As I have said, we have done some homework, we have done a fair bit of research, we have looked at what works around the world and we have outlined the framework that we intend to deliver; and, as I have said a few times now, there is more work to do with regard to getting the details figured out. But to the member's question, there are a few ways that it could work. It could work potentially with GPS technology. It could work—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: —just from an odometer reading—just declare your odometer reading. How many kilometres did you drive? It could be done, perhaps, service to service. It could just be that, when a vehicle comes in for a service, a qualified mechanic says, 'The odometer has changed from this point to this point. That's how many kilometres this vehicle has driven.'

It could be that the driver, the owner of the vehicle, declares the kilometres charged, and perhaps there are random checks. This is not—

The Hon. V.A. Chapman: You use fuel on private roads, too.

The SPEAKER: The Deputy Premier is called to order. The minister has the call.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: This will be very much about kilometres travelled in exactly the same way as existing fuel excise works. There are numerous ways in which it could be done. The government has not ruled in or ruled out any of these opportunities.

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The leader will cease interjecting. The minister has the call.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: The government has not ruled in or ruled out any of the ways that it could be done. We will do consultation, we will do our homework, we will look around the other jurisdictions that already do this. We will work in consultation with the other jurisdictions that will soon be doing this and we will come up with a very sensible, very fair, very effective way of delivering as suggested, and, Mr Speaker, everybody in this chamber will get a chance to have a look at it when it comes before parliament.

I say, again, that this is a part of our $18.3 million electric vehicle rollout. It is focused very much on getting that charging network going. It is focused on making sure that smart charging is available. It is focused on making sure that the government uses its own fleet purchases to full advantage to help drive down the cost of vehicles, and it is also focused on making sure that drivers of other than electric vehicles are not penalised along the way—very important, Mr Speaker.

We are a very fair and open government trying to make sure that this works as well as possible for absolutely everybody. So, when we see in five years' time 27 per cent of new vehicle purchases rolling out being electric vehicles we will see that we have a fair approach so that those people who still have petrol and diesel vehicles are being treated fairly and those people who have electric vehicles are being treated fairly.

If the member opposite is suggesting that by doing it in any other way than at least in part being based on a per kilometre charge, then he will be very welcome to provide an amendment when this comes to parliament. It will be there for everybody to see. If he's got a good suggestion he can put it forward. In advance of the legislation coming, at the time of the legislation coming, that opportunity will exist for all members in this chamber, and, of course in the other house as well. A per kilometre method is a sensible method.