Protect Us Please from Tonnes of Truckasaurus Terror

Like most people, I love being given strict behavioural directives by some fun-remedy suity greenist from an up-itself regional leftoid crank tank.

A popular and practical ute as seen through the Australia Institute’s petrified pantybunch panic goggles

That’s why I’m such a huge fan of the Australia Institute’s Richard Denniss, who is so terribwy, terribwy fwightened by the big mean twucks that he just wants to cwy:

Australia’s obsession with giant trucks “can’t go on” if the country is serious about cutting emissions, according to one expert who has slammed the government’s “absurd” policy that incentivises large vehicles while taxing public transport.

We’re not off to the greatest of starts here, considering taxes pay for public transport.

Richard Denniss, executive director of the Australia Institute think tank, has called for a crackdown on the “expensive, inefficient and dangerous” twin-cab utes and large SUVs – which last year made up all of the country’s top 10 selling cars.

Australian leftists these days talk about utes in the same panicked way they used to talk about firearms. And they demand similar bans and restrictions.

“Economics 101 says we should tax things we want fewer of and subsidise things we want more of, but in Australia we subsidise the purchase of twin-cab utes and charge goods and services tax on bikes and public transport,” Dr Denniss said ...

Denniss describes large vehicles as “things we want fewer of”. But we plainly want lots and lots of them, because twin-cab utes and large SUVs “last year made up all of the country’s top 10 selling cars”.

The “we” Denniss speaks of may just be himself, his Australia Institute comrades and assorted social media sooks. By the way, Australia also charges a GST on utes – which are not subsidised at all for private buyers.

Moving on, Denniss gets all snippy about ute and SUV nomenclature:

“Just as most utes aren’t really shifting cargo around our cities, ‘sports utility vehicles’ are not engaged in sport — and they clearly aren’t utilities”.

Righto, mate. If we’re demanding precise definitions, then this self-adoring load requires some serious corrections: “The Australia Institute provides intellectual and policy leadership. We conduct research that drives the public debate and secures policy outcomes that make Australia better.”

Please. You’re just old-fashioned urban leftist bores, as shown by Denniss’s subsequent barrel of crap:

“If Australia were serious about the climate crisis – admittedly that’s a big if in a country that is still subsidising new gas and coalmines – one of the easiest ways to rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, while saving people a lot of money, would be to encourage a rapid shift from big cars to small cars and public transport,” Dr Denniss said.

On the other hand, let's all drive these. Keep talking, Mr Institute:

“But while Australian governments love population growth, they hate planning for car-free cities – almost as much as they love catering for the biggest cars on our roads.”

“Car-free cities”? A few words earlier he was only aiming for a small-car transition. Now he’s getting rid of them entirely. Fellow moves quickly for an academic.

“While the easiest way to increase the fuel efficiency of the Australian vehicle fleet would be to reduce the number of big vehicles on the road, the easiest solution is rarely the most politically palatable.”

If this bloke thinks reducing the number of big vehicles is easy, let him start with buses.

“And so it is that the Albanese government has designed a complicated proposal that will encourage a lot more people to buy electric vehicles while doing little, if anything, to rein in demand for the utes taking up so much space in our cities.”

They don’t take up nearly as much space as buildings. It’s time to fire up the Australia Institute’s capital city demolition division.

UPDATE. According to Denniss:

Economics 101 says we should tax things we want fewer of and subsidise things we want more of …

Argentina has run its economy for decades on just such a patchwork system of rewards and disincentives. It’s one of the reasons Argentina ended up bankrupt, and with more than 120 separate business tax laws.