“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—

Mick Dodson AM

Greenpeace Australia Pacific Board Member

Mick Dodson AM is a former Australian of the year, Yawuru man, barrister, activist and professor. He is best known for his campaigns as a lawyer to secure and improve the legal rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, particularly in relation to land and native title rights.

This work led to Mick being awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2003 for services to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community and being named Australian of the Year in 2009.

Mick became the first Indigenous barrister to join the Victorian Bar in 1981. Since then he has served as the first Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner with the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. He has served as a Director of the Northern Land Council and as counsel assisting the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. Mick was also a member of the United Nations Permanent Forum as a member for the Pacific Region and served on the board of trustees of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Populations.

Luke Giuliani

Greenpeace Australia Pacific Board Member

Luke Giuliani has spent over 15 years working as a strategic and technology leader within startup, not-for-profit, commercial and listed environments.

He has served as non executive director of Climate Action Network Australia and Climate for Change. He also has a wealth of experience within Greenpeace’s global network, having previously served as Chief Technology Officer within Greenpeace Australia Pacific and undertaken global technology transformation programs.

His passion for learning, helping others to find their true north and building high performing cultures and teams has found a home across engineering, devops, data and insights, design, delivery, research and development, operations and cybersecurity.

Based in Melbourne, Luke is a keen cyclist, proud father, amateur squash player and avid sci-fi reader.

“The Albanese government has made great strides forward in delivering what Australia needs – an ambitious roll-out of clean, affordable and reliable energy that will also reduce emissions, but this good work is hugely undermined by its refusal to stop new fossil fuel projects that will spew out billions of tonnes of emissions,” said David Ritter, CEO, Greenpeace Australia Pacific.

“Australia is one of the sunniest and windiest countries in the world, and we have the skilled people and resources to smash our 43% emissions reduction target while becoming a renewable energy superpower. But fossil fuels are slowing us down in the race to cut emissions at the speed and scale demanded by science, and future-proof our economy.

“An immediate step the Federal Government should take to avert climate disaster is to stop Woodside’s Burrup Hub, Australia’s biggest climate threat, which is projected to emit 6.1 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions over its proposed 50-year lifetime.

“The Climate Change Statement comes as COP28 kicks off, where Australia and other major polluters will rightly come under significant pressure to stop approving new coal and gas projects in order to preserve a chance of limiting warming to 1.5°C. If Australia wants to be taken seriously as a climate leader, it simply cannot greenlight more fossil fuels,” said Mr Ritter.

Lindsay Soutar, head of Electrify, Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said: “The Federal Government’s Climate Change Statement would show better progress if Transport Minister Catherine King had not dragged her feet on delivering much-needed legislation on a Fuel Efficiency Standard.

“Transport is the third largest source of emissions in Australia, and every day that we do not have legislation to limit emissions from polluting vehicles, we are locking in decades of avoidable pollution, while Australians miss out on millions of dollars of savings,” said Ms Soutar.

The second annual Climate Change Statement comes as two new pieces of analysis released by Greenpeace Australia Pacific this week show that $10.1bn could have been saved by motorists had a Fuel Efficiency Standard been introduced back in 2016—the figure is rising by $105/second—and that Woodside’s Burrup Hub is Australia’s biggest climate threat, emitting 6.1 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions over its proposed 50-year lifetime.

—ENDS—

“In continuing to spruik fossil fuels in a climate crisis, it’s clear that Toyota cannot be trusted when it comes to making the necessary transition to electric cars.

“Toyota’s misinformation, green-washing and anti-climate lobbying has been called out the world over – they have one goal: continue to sell petrol polluting vehicles.

“This company does not sell a single battery electric vehicle in Australia. It is the pinnacle of self-interest for them to lecture Australians on the need to move slowly on electric vehicles.

“Pitching for more petrol-fuelled cars in 2023 is akin to the tobacco industry lobbying for weakened smoking laws or the asbestos industry lobbying for relaxed building standards.

“Australians see through Toyota’s corporate greed: battery electric vehicles are the fastest growing segment of new car sales, and with a strong fuel efficiency standard set to make it even easier and more affordable to buy one, Toyota’s self-seeking rhetoric becomes more ridiculous by the day.

“Global reliance on fossil fuels is destroying our health, environment and climate. We need to urgently switch our homes and businesses and transport off coal, oil and gas and onto renewable electricity – powered by the sun and wind.

“Vehicle emissions are one of the most significant sources of climate pollution in Australia –  alone, they count for one-fifth of our total emissions! – and it’s only growing. The need to electrify our cars has never been more urgent.”

—ENDS—

Head to our campaign page to learn more about how Greenpeace is electrifying Australia’s transport and how you too can drive this change for a cleaner and safer climate.

The annual ranking evaluates the world’s 15 largest traditional automakers on their phase-out of Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles, supply chain decarbonisation, and resource reduction and efficiency. The report highlights how Australia’s most popular car brands are also some of the worst in terms of electrification and decarbonisation efforts.

Suzuki was bottom of the pile and did not sell a single zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) in 2022, nor has it set any targets for supply chain or materials decarbonisation.

Australia’s leading car brand Toyota crawled up from last year’s bottom-ranking position, but continues to stall when it comes to ZEV sales which represented a measly 0.24% of its total sales in 2022 — exceedingly low for a carmaker of its size. 

The Australian Government is currently considering the introduction of a Fuel Efficiency Standard (FES) which would limit pollution from cars by creating a cap on emissions across a manufacturer’s overall sales. This would incentivise the supply of zero and low-emissions vehicles, ensuring everyday Australians have access to more affordable and less polluting cars.

Greenpeace Australia Pacific Campaigner Joe Rafalowicz said that Australia is one of the only developed nations without an emissions standard and is fast becoming a dumping ground for expensive, dirty vehicles.

“Australia is considered an ‘ICE hold-out market’ due to our lack of fuel efficiency standards, placing us in the same category as countries like Turkey and Vietnam. 

“While Australians are calling out for access to more affordable electric vehicles, and petrol prices keep rising, Toyota continues to lobby for weak policy to protect its petrol-powered profits. This is clearly not in the interest of Australian consumers.

“A strong Fuel Efficiency Standard will benefit all Australians by slashing emissions, improving air quality, and reducing cost of living pressures. We call on Ministers Bowen and King to ensure a FES is implemented quickly and is robust enough to have a real impact on transport emissions, and to rule out loopholes for companies who have failed to invest in electric vehicles”

Yesterday, Greenpeace issued a statement in support of the decision by the High Court to scrap Victoria’s ‘ill-considered’ road user tax for electric vehicles.

In Question Time yesterday, Minister for Transport Catherine King was asked by MP for Kooyong Monique Ryan whether the government would rule out supercredits and other loopholes for car companies in its forthcoming fuel efficiency standard.

In an August statement, Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen said that the strong response to his government’s FES consultation reinforces overwhelming support for the Government’s position that, “Australia needs fuel efficiency standards that make us competitive with other parts of the world for cleaner, cheaper-to-run cars.”

—ENDS—

Notes for editor:

• Read the full report and media briefing 
• Toyota was penalised in the ranking due to a series of class-action lawsuits, known as “Dieselgate,” for emissions cheating that involves tampered devices displaying a lower nitrogen oxide emission level than the actual emissions.
• Toyota received a score of ‘D’ by InfluenceMap, due to its history of negative lobbying and active involvement in regressive trade associations.
• Greenpeace Australia Pacific’s submission to the Australian Government’s FES Consultation can be found here

Greenpeace Australia Pacific today welcomed the decision by the High Court to ditch Victoria’s ill-considered electric vehicle (EV) tax.

“At a time of climate crisis, Australia must quickly move towards clean electric vehicles to replace big, dirty, fossil fuel cars. Taxing Australians for doing the right thing was an ill-considered step, at a time when Governments should be rewarding people for doing the right thing by the planet,” said Greenpeace Australia Pacific campaigner Joe Rafalowicz.

Greenpeace Australia Pacific also urged the Federal Government to accelerate its efforts around electric vehicles.

“The Federal government must now implement its national Fuel Efficiency Standard to cut emissions and make EVs more affordable with haste.

“The government should also rule out any measures that would slow the EV transition. If road user charges are to be considered in the future, they need to be designed in a way that guarantees emissions reduction, and disincentives the shift to larger and larger vehicles. Poorly thought-through state levies, which only apply to EV drivers, are a dead end.”

—ENDS—

Head to our campaign page to learn more about how Greenpeace AP is electrifying Australia’s transport and how you too can drive this change for a cleaner and safer climate.

“I was born in 1982. This coal mine will outlive me and many other people in Australia, and risks trashing Labor’s credibility on climate.

“This decision is a criminally reckless abdication of responsibility to current and future communities, and marks the fourth occasion Labor has approved a coal project or extension since being elected.

“The Environment Minister’s reform process of the EPBC Act is long overdue and much-needed, but the Minister has categorically ruled out including climate considerations in environmental approvals, saying that climate decisions can be dealt with under climate legislation.

“This decision shows that there is no process to deal properly with climate decisions. Instead, we have an Environment Department dealing with applications for climate bombs with no reference to climate impacts.

“The system is broken and needs urgent fixing – our climate and Labor’s reputation both depend on it.”

—ENDS—

This month, we are excited to welcome back the Rainbow Warrior to Aussie shores, as it embarks on a journey up the West Australian coastline to join with local communities and protect our oceans and climate from fossil fuel company Woodside – and its monstrous Burrup Hub gas project. 

Greenpeace has deep connections to Western Australia and its oceans. 

In fact, this journey marks 45 years since Greenpeace Australia Pacific first began back in the 1970s. A time when whaling was the greatest threat to whales and activists put their bodies between the whales and whalers – helping to put an end to commercial whaling in this country.

And now in 2023, as the greatest threat to whales comes from fossil fuel companies driving dangerous climate change, our crew will be sailing the length of WA with a simple message: choose whales not Woodside. 

Excited to dive into more history about the Rainbow Warrior? Of course you are.

Here’s a look back at some of the other times that Greenpeace’s flagship vessel has campaigned in Australian waters:

January 1990

March 1991

The following year, in 1991, Greenpeace’s Rainbow Warrior returned to Australia to take a stand against fossil fuel giant BHP, who was conducting seismic testing in search of offshore oil at the time.

The ship carried a banner “Whales and Oil don’t mix”.

On this particular occasion, BHP’s ship, the Western Odyssey, was successfully prevented from continuing with its dangerous seismic testing activities thanks to the efforts of the crew.

March 1993

By 1993, Greenpeace’s famous rainbow ship returned once again for a four-month tour around the south and east coasts of Australia.

The tour saw several ports of call along the way, including blockading the entrance of a cargo ship, the Eastern Ruby, into Sydney Harbour which was carrying tropical timber from Malaysia.

Plus a stop into Hobart, where scientists onboard took oil samples and activists occupied a jarosite dumping ship for almost twelve hours.

The trip even saw some special guest appearances onboard – including Paul and Linda McCartney.

September 2000

In 2000, the Rainbow Warrior returned to Sydney Harbour to help commemorate the Green Olympics, an idea inspired by Greenpeace to ensure commitments to green deeds during the Games – including energy and water conservation, and protection of the natural environment through initiatives including a solar-powered community for athletes to sleep and eat.

July 2000

Australia welcomed the Rainbow Warrior back to Sydney Harbour in 2005, during its climate tour against coal, where the crew onboard peacefully disrupted the loading of coal in the world’s largest coal port and demanded a switch to renewable energy.

July 2015

Ten years later, the Rainbow Warrior set sail towards one of the seventh wonders of the natural world during its six-week Save the Reef campaign.

The ship traveled up the east coast to raise awareness for the protection of the Great Barrier Reef, and was involved in several peaceful actions to protest against the transportation and usage of dirty fossil fuel, coal.

The tour also coincided with the 30th anniversary of the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior by the French government on the 10th of July 1985.

November 2018

The last time the Rainbow Warrior visited Australian waters was back in 2018, during its Making Oil History tour, to draw attention to the threats posed by dangerous oil drilling in the Great Australian Bight.

The Warrior was stationed in Sydney for a day to meet with supporters, before departing on a voyage along the East Coast to Melbourne, South Australia, and Western Australia, where it helped launch a number of reports and conducted important scientific research to document the unsung beauty of the Bight.

By 2021, fossil fuel giants BP, Chevron, and Equinor, had all announced they will be abandoning their plans for offshore drilling in the Bight – a historic win for people and the planet. 

Australia’s biggest climate polluter AGL will today start the process of shutting the remaining three of four units at the 50-year old Liddell power station in New South Wales. The heavily  polluting power station – one of Australia’s most unreliable and decrepit – will be replaced by large amounts of wind and solar energy, coupled with big batteries.

Glenn Walker, Head of Advocacy and Strategy at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, congratulated AGL for following through on its plans to shut down the power station, and urged the company to close its two remaining stations by 2030.

“AGL’s remaining coal burning power stations in Victoria and New South Wales are equally unreliable polluting clunkers. The sooner they are shut down the better it will be for the climate and the health of local communities,” he said.

“With recent leadership changes at AGL, the company can and should be a renewable energy leader. By future-proofing the grid with renewable energy, AGL can be an industry leader for Australia’s rapid transition away from dirty coal and gas to clean energy.”

It’s the first major closure of a coal-burning power station since 2017, after Engie’s Hazelwood station was shut down in Victoria.

Walker said Liddell’s closure will be a tipping point for Australia’s energy transition.

“When the closure of Liddell was announced in 2017, it caused a political storm, leading to the sacking of then AGL CEO Andy Vesey. Despite the initial protesting from small-minded politicians and commentators, this announcement helped spur a massive four-fold increase in renewable energy production in NSW since 2017, meaning that dirty Liddell will be replaced by clean energy,” he said.

“The lesson from Liddell should be that companies like AGL and politicians alike need to show courage and get on with the job of cleaning up our dirty energy system. With leadership, forward planning, and smart investment in renewable energy the transition from coal and gas to renewables can be seamless.”

The closure comes after a two year campaign by Greenpeace Australia Pacific to have AGL bring forward the closure of their coal-burning power stations. Loy Yang A was scheduled to close in 2048 but is now slated to close in 2035. Bayswater was due to close in 2035 but will now close as early as 2030. 

Greenpeace maintains that both of these remaining power stations need to close by 2030 to align with the Paris Agreement and keep dangerous global heating below 1.5 degrees.

—ENDS—