Energy Minister Chris Bowen says Labor will consider ‘sensible’ changes to proposed new vehicle efficiency standards

Labor says it will consider manufacturers’ feedback on its proposed new fuel standards, as Toyota warns current proposal is unfair to Aussies who drive in regional and rural areas.

Labor will consider “sensible” ideas from the car industry on how to implement its proposed vehicle efficiency standards, despite initially rejecting claims the plan slashed emissions caps too quickly.

After receiving dozens of submissions from manufacturer, Energy and Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen said he would consider proposals that simplified or enhanced the federal government’s preferred pathway to accelerate the take-up of more efficient and electric vehicles.

“Where an idea has been made to us sensibly, we will consider it sensibly, in good faith to help the implementation of what is a big and complicated policy space,” Mr Bowen told the ABC.

But he said the government would not be “bullied” out of proceeding with the policy, which he argued was in the “best interest of the Australian people”.

The proposal to impose a cap on the overall CO2 emissions of a manufacturer’s fleet of light commercial and large passenger vehicles sold in Australia from January 1 next year has already been labelled a “family car and ute tax” by the Coalition, which has warned upfront costs will be passed onto motorists.

Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen says Labor will consider changes to its fuel efficiency standards proposal. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

Labor plans to lower the cap quickly so that emissions are slashed by 60 per cent by 2030.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton has criticised the pace of the proposal.

“It’s why the motor dealers at the moment are pushing back very hard on this, because they know that new car sales are going to plummet, and, as a result, they lose jobs in their own industry,” he said.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton has accused Labor of trying to tax family cars and utes. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

In a submission to the government’s discussion paper on the new standard, Toyota, which manufactures several of Australia’s most popular cars, including the Hilux and the Landcruiser, asked Labor to “revisit” the stringency of targets set out in its preferred option to reduce emissions.

The company warned Labor’s proposal “unfairly penalises the vehicles that everyday regional and rural Australian conditions require”.

The government’s preference would result in Australia matching the US’ standards by 2028, which Toyota said was a very steep benchmark in such a short space of time considering the experience of the American car market.

Toyota has warned Labor’s plan is unfair for Australians in the bush who ‘need’ rather than ‘want’ to drive bigger cars. Picture: Toyota

“Evidence from the USA market shows that there has been a ‘lower than anticipated demand for electric vehicles’,” Toyota said.

The Grattan Institute has estimated Labor’s policy would increase average prices by about one per cent, which it said in its submission would soon be offset by fuel savings..

The latest modelling released by the energy and climate change department suggests motorists in regional and outer suburban areas would save up to $1800 a year on fuel.

But industry body, the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) has warned based on current models available in Australia, the proposed penalties for larger petrol cars and utes would result in costs of up to $13,000 being passed onto consumers if manufacturers were unable to offset with increased sales of hybrid and electric vehicles.

“We support the introduction of a (fuel efficiency standard) on a ‘modest start, fast finish’ basis to achieve required out-year emissions reductions while accommodating model development and the life cycle of vehicles in order to avoid sudden consumer price shocks,” the FCAI’s submission said.

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