Australia’s Green Party proposes banning sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030

Australia’s Green Party has proposed banning the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030 and imposing a 17% tax on luxury petrol and diesel cars for four years, as part of an electric vehicle policy.

The proposal also includes introducing mandatory fuel efficiency standards of 105g of CO2 a kilometre by 2022, three years earlier than has been proposed by the federal government.

The Greens’ proposal includes a reduction in tariffs and charges on new electric or zero-emission vehicles, including the 5% import tariff, GST and stamp duty, which would lower their purchase price, and free registration on new zero-emission vehicles for three years.

The tax breaks, as well as a national fund valued at AUD 151 million (USD 118.8 million) to build up to 3,000 electric car charging stations, would be funded by a 17% tax on fossil fuel emitting cars with a purchase price of more than AUD 65,000 (USD 51,162.5 million). That tax would be imposed on top of the existing 33% luxury vehicle tax for cars in that price range. The tax is expected to generate AUD 500 million (USD 393.5 million) a year over four years.

The proposal would also impose targets on large car manufacturers so that 2% of all car and light vehicle sales in Australia in 2020, increasing to 10% by 2050, are zero-emission vehicles.

Currently, electric cars only comprise 0.1% of new car sales, compared with 20% in Norway and the Netherlands, which are phasing out petrol and diesel cars by 2025 and 2030, respectively.

In January 2018, Australia’s Ministerial Forum on Vehicle Emissions released a draft Regulation Impact Statement for consultation on proposed changes to Australia’s fuel quality standards. Submissions closed on 8 March 2018.

Adam Bandt, climate change and energy spokesman for the Green Party, called on the Labor Party to support the policy, which was announced as part of the byelection in the inner Melbourne electorate of Batman, the next chapter in the long-running battle between the Labor and the Green Party over electorates in Australia’s inner cities.