Electrify takes the fight to Parliament to stop petrol pushers blocking action on transport emissions.
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.
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The flyer we distributed in Parliament:
