Following the Labor Party and Anthony Albanese’s landmark election victory on the weekend, car brands nationwide have begun calling for the adoption of an emissions reduction scheme.
Specifically, the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) has voiced a desire for the new government to adopt the scheme that that group has had in place on a voluntary basis since 2020.
FCAI chief executive Tony Weber says that any scheme pushed forwards by the government should be technology agnostic, realistic, and allow brands to bring low-emission options into the country “across a broad range of engine options”.
“The Australian public has made it clear that tackling climate change and reducing emissions is a primary concern. As an industry we are ready to work with the new Federal Government to transition industry’s voluntary CO2 scheme to a federally mandated one,” says Weber.
“Our members are bringing low emission technologies to market that encompass internal combustion, hydrogen, hybrid and full battery electric systems. All of these technologies will play a role in our short-medium term journey towards zero emissions and full electrification.
“Our message to government is simple. Give us the target; we will give you the technology.”
Albanese’s election victory, called on Sunday night, ended the Liberal Party’s lengthy tenure at Australia’s helm. Led by a string of leaders capped off by Scott Morrison, the period saw little action around the electric vehicle space on a federal level.
Australia’s patchy position on electric vehicles has seen numerous brands struggle to secure plug-in models from overseas in spite of those models being on sale for, in some cases, years in other regions.
Having used climate action as one of its policy cornerstones, Labor has already committed to investing $500m in electric vehicle uptake, double what the coalition had pledged. This investment will include a to-be-detailed discount scheme for low-emission vehicles.
“Together with Labor’s already announced Electric Vehicle Discount, we’ll make it easier and cheaper for your next car to be electric,” Albanese said at the beginning of the month.
“Imagine a future where you don’t have to worry about petrol bills. We can get there, but we need government to build the foundation for it. […] The Morrison government claimed that electric vehicles would ‘end the weekend’ and that hydrogen was ‘snake oil’.
“Only a Labor government I lead will deliver a truly national EV charging network and roll out hydrogen highways across the country. This will be the key to driving the nation.”
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