Electric Vehicles

The Hon. I. PNEVMATIKOS (14:49): My question is to the Treasurer regarding taxes. Does the Treasurer accept the science of human-induced climate change and that we must take steps to mitigate against its effects? If so, why are you creating a tax on electric vehicles that creates a disincentive for people to own them?

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer) (14:50): Some people are referring to me as a 'rampant greenie' in my new iteration. As I near the end of my political career, I am being called all sorts of things I've never been called in my first 37 years. Words like 'parsimonious' and 'frugal' have gone; I am now like Paris Hilton on a shopping spree, evidently.

Now, as I said, some people are calling me a 'rampant greenie' because I keep talking about if we are going to inevitably head—as all of our parties in South Australia are supporting—to zero emissions by 2050, then we need to be prepared to address those sorts of issues. Given what people are portraying me as, we are not taking actions which are going to inhibit what is the inevitable consumer preference and trend and need to move towards electric vehicles.

Indeed, the policies that were announced last week—the $18 million in investment expenditure on electric charging infrastructure and other incentives to try to encourage the electric vehicle strategy that the government has—even if this road user charge was to be introduced by the parliament, the Treasury estimates, given the insignificant numbers of electric vehicles currently in South Australia, would only collect about a million dollars, or no more than a million dollars a year, over the forward estimates.

We are spending much, much more on electric vehicle charging infrastructure and various other incentives and initiatives to try to encourage electric vehicle usage. As the Minister for Energy indicated last week, government departments and agencies are being encouraged, where it is cost effective to do so, to use electric vehicles within their government fleet. I don't think anyone can accuse this government—or indeed, even me, as the Leader of the Government in this chamber—of being anything other than environmentally friendly.

In relation to the first question, which I think was do I believe in climate change, or whatever that question was: yes, I do believe in whatever your question was. I couldn't remember the detail of it now, but I knew, when you said it, that I agreed with you.