Senate committee urges government to create policies to encourage use or risk missing out on a transport revolution

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Australia is “on the cusp” of a transport revolution but the country will miss out if it doesn’t end the policy vacuum that has so far kept the electric vehicle industry from growing, according to a Senate committee report released on Wednesday.

“[Electric vehicle] uptake in Australia lags behind that of other comparable countries due to a relative absence of overarching policy direction from Australian governments,” the report said.

The result is that there are only around 7,300 electric cars on Australian roads, with most people unable to afford current models.

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This is negligible compared with countries like Norway and New Zealand, which have clear government policies to support the rollout of the new technology.

The committee warned that Australia will miss out on the environmental, health, social and economic benefits of the growing industry should governments fail to act.

“Australia is on the cusp of the most significant disruption and transformation of our transport system since the advent of the internal combustion engine,” the report said.

“Reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, cost savings for vehicle owner-operators, increased job opportunities and economic growth, improved health outcomes and increased fuel security are just some of the benefits that Australia can realise as EV use begins to climb.”

The committee made 17 recommendations including calling for a national plan to manage the rollout of electric cars.

Other recommendations include a dedicated taskforce to develop this plan, a national target to encourage the uptake of electric vehicles on Australian roads, more “coordination” with operators to expand the existing charging network and a national target for government fleets.

There are currently 12,691 vehicles in the commonwealth fleet, but only 12 are electric.

On costings obtained by independent senator Tim Storer, it would cost an extra $5m by 2022 to start converting half the government fleet to electric by 2025, or an extra $2.7m to do the same by 2030.

Behyad Jafari, head of the Electric Vehicle Council, welcomed the report’s findings as a step in the right direction.

“For our part it’s yet another endorsement, this time by the Australian Senate, that there’s a massive amount of evidence to support a mass switch to electric vehicles,” Jafari said.

“The report really emphasises the fact that something should be happening. We welcome the report, but also say the recommendations need to be acted on urgently.”

According to the Climate Council, transport is Australia’s second-largest contributor to greenhouse gas pollution after electricity, contributing 18% in 2018.

This makes electric and other clean-energy transport critical to addressing climate change – a fact not lost on the Australian public.

In polling released Wednesday, the Australia Institute surveyed 1,449 people across the country on specific policies to support the uptake of electric cars.

While most opposed more direct policies such as a ban on the sale of petrol cars after 2030, it found the overwhelming majority were supportive of encouraging their uptake.

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Almost four in five people said they wanted the government to expand the network of charging stations and to ensure new cars sold in Australia were more fuel efficient – even if they cost more.

Roughly three in four said they wanted to see the government add more electric cars to its fleet and ensure new apartment blocks were required to install electric car-charging stations.

Richie Merzian, director of the Climate and Energy Program at the Australian Institute, said the results showed the public support was there and it was time Canberra stepped up.

“The appetite for Australians to pay more for their cars if they believe there are core benefits came through quite strongly,” Merzian said. “There’s some really strong support for low-hanging policies that the government could take up.

“All that’s missing now is federal government support.”