Electric Vehicles

The Hon. M.C. PARNELL (14:51): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Leader of the Government, representing the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure and Local Government in another place, a question about electric vehicles.

Leave granted.

The Hon. M.C. PARNELL: Today's Advertiser has a story under the heading, 'Ban new petrol cars to accelerate electric vehicle sales, says NRMA'. The article says:

Australia should ban the sale of new petrol vehicles sometime between 2025 and 2030, the country’s largest motoring organisation says…

It goes on:

'We need to prepare Australia for the fact that at some point in the next couple of decades we're not going to be able to buy petrol or diesel cars.'

Bans are planned in several European and Asian countries [already].

Last year, I asked a question of the minister about electric vehicles. One question I asked was whether the government was working on a new electric vehicle strategy for South Australia to replace the strategy under the previous government. The response I got back from the minister last year was:

The government is currently considering the merits of a separate electric vehicle…strategy approach or whether low emission vehicles should be considered as part of overall priorities for action across government pertaining to low carbon or future transport mobility.

I also asked last year what steps the government was taking to lead by example and convert a majority of the state fleet to electric vehicles, and the response I got to that question was that the South Australian government had a target of 30 per cent low-emission vehicles in its fleet by 2019. My questions of the minister now are:

1. Has the government determined whether or not it's going to prepare an electric vehicle strategy for South Australia?

2. Has the government met its target of 30 per cent low-emission vehicles in the state fleet?

3. How many of those vehicles are electric vehicles?

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer) (14:53): I am happy to take on notice those questions that relate to my colleague in another place and bring back a reply. I suspect the second set of questions probably relate to me, in relation to state fleet, so whilst I take the questions formally on behalf of my colleague, I suspect some of them will come back from me.