Electric Vehicles

The Hon. F. PANGALLO (15:44): It has been pleasing to see that more of Australia's biggest companies are throwing their support behind achieving zero emissions targets. The momentum gets stronger by the day as the world comes to the realisation that climate change is very real and the only way to tackle it is with strong, green policies and by moving away from a reliance on fossil fuels for our energy needs.

I was amazed to hear recently that for one hour in South Australia solar and wind power powered our entire electricity consumption. South Australia leads the nation, and probably the world, in making this remarkable environmental transition, and I will give credit to the vision of the previous Labor government and its then leader, Jay Weatherill, for making some very difficult decisions.

In yesterday's state budget, much of which SA-Best supports, the Treasurer indicated the introduction of a new road user tax for owners of electric vehicles, due to come into force next year. The reason for that is that at present the federal fuel excise levy contributes the billions of dollars needed for road maintenance and infrastructure projects, like the conservative $8 billion to $9 billion required to complete the north-south corridor.

On that, I thank the Treasurer for the decision to tunnel, which will save some sacred sites in the west, like the Thebarton Theatre, the Queen of Angels Church and convent—where I was baptised and had holy communion and went to school—and the adjacent St George College, which was once Thebarton Primary, where I also attended.

But back to the EVs. In his briefing yesterday, the Treasurer gave a wildly optimistic estimate that within 20 or 30 years every vehicle on our roads will be electric. I do not know how he came up with that assessment or if he can possibly back it up with any statistical modelling of the sector. There is no argument that once petrol or diesel guzzling vehicles disappear, the money for roads needs to come from EV users. Just how they collect that is going to be another piece in the zero emissions puzzle.

However, the Treasurer appears to have put the electric cart before the electric horse, with his premature road tax on EVs. What we do not have from the government is a transport plan for EVs. Currently, there are probably about 10,000 electric or hybrid vehicles on Australian roads. Last year was the sector's biggest in terms of sales—6,718. I would be surprised if even 5 to 10 per cent of that figure applied to South Australia. It still accounted for only 0.6 per cent of total sales.

Infrastructure Australia predicts that by 2040, 70 to 100 per cent of new car sales will be electric, so unless we set a target to stop the sales of combustion engine vehicles, they are going to be around for a few years yet. It was disappointing that the federal Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, did not add a sweetener for EVs in his budget, which included a 100 per cent immediate tax writedown for business purchases of up to $5 million.

What our Treasurer should also have announced in his green motoring initiative is an incentive for people to switch to electric vehicles, not impose a tax that will serve as a disincentive to buy one. Here is what is putting the brakes on increasing sales: cost. Just six of 22 models are under $65,000, so unless the federal and state governments quickly come up with a plan—a policy—that reduces the costs by conditionally wiping away luxury car taxes, GST and other charges like stamp duty, the take-up will be slower than Lewis Hamilton on a penny-farthing cycle.

Last year on my trip to Norway, I met up with Petter Haugneland of the Norwegian EV Association, who explained how and why Norway was leading the world in EV sales. There are 250,000 EVs on their roads, accounting for more than 58 per cent of new sales. There is no purchase tax, zero VAT, no annual road tax, 60 per cent company car tax, 50 per cent concessions on toll roads, ferries and parking. It makes the price of an e-Golf more than €1,000 cheaper than its petrol equivalent.

Norway's national transport plan is to stop selling diesel and petrol cars from 2025, this from a country that derives much of its wealth from its significant oil and gas holdings. Ninety-two per cent of battery electric vehicle owners are very happy with their purchase. Only 21 per cent of Norwegians list 'range anxiety' as their biggest barrier to buying one. I would therefore urge the Treasurer and his transport and infrastructure minister to come together with their counterparts and develop an EV strategy.