Comments attributable to Greenpeace Australia Pacific campaigner Joe Rafalowicz:

“The new Vehicle Emissions Standards are like setting a speed limit, with a fine if you go over. The idea is that you don’t speed. The FCAI has said ‘imagine if we all just kept driving at the same speed, imagine how many fines we would get!’.

“But the point of changing the speed limit is that you avoid getting a fine by following “the rules. That means bringing more efficient cars to Australia, and selling more of them – not selling exactly the same thing as they have in stock today, and then copping a fine (which you pass on to the customer).

“Avoiding the fines in the first place is exactly what happened when the EU brought in emissions rules (which have even stronger targets than are proposed in Australia).

“In 2022, 100% of car companies in the EU met their target (emitted less than they were required to.

“In 2021, 100% of the top-selling car companies in the EU met their targets, and 4 out of 88 companies had to pay any kind of penalty (and those companies sold less than 2000 cars in the luxury segment, and so paid a minimal penalty which was not passed on to customers).  

“The idea that car companies in Australia will keep speeding down the highway, ignoring the new speed limit, and will then pass their fines onto the customer is disingenuous and flies in the face of evidence about how these schemes work.

“In short, it is bullshit. And not the good kind that you can turn into compost.”

—ENDS—

“Today’s announcement is a victory for the thousands of Australians who made submissions to the Government asking for meaningful action to reduce emissions from transport”, according to Greenpeace Australia Pacific Senior Campaigner Joe Rafalowicz.

“This is a great day for the millions of Australian drivers who would like the choice to make the switch to electric vehicles, but have been held back by a policy void.”

“The proposed ‘New Vehicle Efficiency Standard’ will put Australia on a path to less carbon pollution, more efficient cars and lower-cost transport, marking this as a historic day for action on climate change – provided the Federal Government resists pressure from the self-interested petrol car lobby.”

“The strength of the proposal also shows the Government has seen through the lies of the international petrol car importers. The proposal avoids excessive credits and loopholes, and it properly designates SUVs as ‘passenger vehicles’ to ensure they also become more efficient over time.”

“The analysis released today shows the model put forward by the petrol car lobby would achieve “negligible” reductions in petrol costs and pollution – the Government has rightly discarded it as useless.”

“We know the petrol car lobby will do everything it can to sabotage this proposal with scare campaigns and misinformation. Greenpeace urges the Government to stay the course and get this proposal legislated as soon as possible, so that motorists can start fuelling their vehicle with Australian sunshine instead of imported, polluting petrol.”

“We hope to see more announcements in the future that help get low-income Australians into electric vehicles, and assistance for the 70% of Australians who buy second-hand cars.”

—ENDS—

In welcoming the establishment of the Parliamentary Inquiry, Greenpeace Australia Pacific campaigner Joe Rafalowicz emphasised that the Federal Government “already has some of the answers – and a simple, long-overdue step is the introduction of an ambitious and robust Fuel Efficiency Standard.”

“Transport is the fastest growing source of climate-wrecking emissions in Australia. Due to the absence of strong, legislated fuel efficiency standards, new cars sold in Australia are some of the most polluting and expensive to run cars in the world,” Rafalowicz said

“Demand for electric vehicles in Australia has skyrocketed, but the lack of fuel efficiency standards is putting the brakes on the electric vehicle market, holding Australians back from cleaner, more affordable electric transport.

“The introduction of a Fuel Efficiency Standard has been floated since 2016, with at least three consultations and inquiries since that time.

“Greenpeace Australia Pacific recently released figures which showed Australian motorists would have saved $10.1 billion in avoided petrol costs if a Fuel Efficiency Standard had been introduced when it was first considered. 

“In a climate crisis, we cannot allow another inquiry to lead to further delay. Having promised to introduce draft standards by the end of last year, our Federal Transport Minister should act to introduce a strong Standard when the Parliament returns,” Mr Rafalowicz added. 

—ENDS—

This week Electrify performed a public service to help out our elected representatives:  we distributed hundreds of flyers warning of the danger posed by petrol car lobbyists who roam the halls of Parliament.

While our flyer was a joke, there is nothing funny about the misinformation peddled by petrol car lobbyists. We know that the last time Australia considered a cap on pollution from new cars, the automotive industry did its best to sow confusion and doubt to protect their petro-profits. We can’t let that happen again. 

Car companies like Toyota, and the industry group called the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) that represents them, have a history of calling for weak standards that are riddled with loopholes that benefit  the automotive industry.  The most intensive lobbying comes from those companies who have been overtaken in the shift to electric cars. Toyota in particular has been fighting against effective climate policy all over the world.

The petrol car lobby plays on the fears of politicians that any attempt to cut transport emissions will mean that everyday Australians will suffer financially. But that could not be further from the truth! A cap on pollution from new cars (known as a fuel efficiency standard) will mean:

• Australian motorists would save $11.2 billion in fuel costs over the next five years if we introduced a standard similar to the EU
• Car manufacturers will bring in a wider range of more affordable electric vehicles to the Australian market, and they will make petrol vehicles more efficient in the short term
• The average price of vehicles will stay the same, with EVs decreasing in price over time 
• Australia will have a chance to reach net zero by 2050 – which will be impossible without phasing out new petrol cars by 2030 or 2035 at the latest.

This time we won’t let the lobbyists get away with their fear mongering – we are getting on the front foot, warning our politicians about their tactics, and helping them see the compelling reasons a pollution cap on cars makes sense.

Support the campaign to Electrify cars? Sign up to support the campaign here.

The flyer we distributed in Parliament: