Bill Shorten yet to convince his own MPs of the need to buy electric cars
Labor’s deputy leader Tanya Plibersek has been forced to admit she drives a heavy carbon-emitting Ford Territory, after it was revealed MPs were failing to lead by example with green vehicles.
NSW
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Labor’s deputy leader Tanya Plibersek has been forced to admit she drives a heavy carbon-emitting Ford Territory, after it was revealed MPs were failing to lead by example with green vehicles.
An investigation published in Friday’s Daily Telegraph discovered several Labor MPs were using among the least environmentally friendly vehicles for their own families despite asking Australians to stop buying them.
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Ford Territories, the car of choice for Ms Plibersek, are among the worst carbon dioxide emitters on the market, with even newer models capable of spewing out 286g of CO2 per kilometre.
The figure is well above the 105g CO2 cap Labor wants to implement on the vehicle manufacturing industry.
Ms Plibersek refused to reveal what car she used when contacted by The Daily Telegraph on Thursday but she came clean in a tense interview with 2GB presenter Alan Jones on Friday morning.
“Well I’m a do as I say, not do as I do Alan,” Ms Plibersek said in defence of her own personal car habits.
“I’ve got an Australian made, when we used to make cars in Australia, Ford Territory because I’ve got three kids, Alan, as soon as one of them’s got a friend over.”
Ms Plibersek also used her appearance on the program to correct a gaffe by her leader Bill Shorten, who falsely claimed electric vehicles could be charged in eight minutes.
“It’s not a memory test this thing, it’s about making sure we’ve got the right policies,” she said.
“One of the reasons that we’re committing $100 million to fast charging stations is because we know that increasingly around the world that electric vehicles are becoming more popular and more common.
“So, at a fast-charging station you’d spend about 20 or 30 minutes charging your car.”
That figure has also been disputed by motoring expert Trent Nikolic, who later told the program the charge time for most users would be hours.
“If you spend two-and-a-half to three thousand dollars and you get your wall box set up at home … the car will tend to charge between about eight and nine hours overnight,” he said.
In The Daily Telegraph’s report on Friday morning, it was revealed federal Labor MPs own a small fleet of petrol-guzzling combustion engine vehicles — despite asking Australians to stop buying them.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has this week unveiled his plans to require half of all new car sales to be electric vehicles by 2030 but he has failed to convince his own MPs to become early adopters.
From Corio MP Richard Marles’ Ford Territory four-wheel-drive to Lyons MP Brian Mitchell’s Jeep Wrangler, nearly all of the private family cars registered by Labor parliamentarians breach the party’s own 105g/kilometre carbon emissions limit.
A Jeep Wrangler chugs out at least 200g of carbon dioxide each kilometre and the Ford Territory emits 286g over the same distance.
Western Australian Senator Patrick Dodson’s Holden Colorado and Toyota LandCruiser Wagon are also big carbon emitters.
And in the seat of Warringah, where a battleline has been drawn over climate change issues, independent candidate Zali Steggall has been spotted behind the wheel of a Nissan Pathfinder T1 model, which can emit an eye-watering 234g of carbon dioxide per kilometre.
Ms Steggall has been heavily critical of her opponent Tony Abbott’s climate change record and on Tuesday backed a plan to build more electric cars in Australia.
On Thursday The Daily Telegraph put questions to her about whether her personal vehicle of choice was at odds with her stance on climate change, whether she planned to buy a low-emitting vehicle, and if she supported Labor’s electric vehicle policy. She did not respond.
Greens MP and party leader Richard Di Natale owns a Volkswagen Golf, which emits between 128g and 183g, but he also declined to comment.
Greens climate spokesman Adam Bandt has emerged as a true believer in his party’s climate policies by driving a Mitsubishi Outlander plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. The vehicle emits only 44g per kilometre.
A spokeswoman for Mr Shorten said forcing Labor MPs to drive clean vehicles would be “ridiculous”.
“No one will be forced to use an electric vehicle and it’s ridiculous to suggest so,” she said. “Labor’s policy will make consumers significantly better off and reduce pollution from cars.
“According to the government’s own figures, Australians are paying as much as $500 each year more at the (petrol) bowser than they should be.”
Energy Minister Angus Taylor said ALP policy would drive up the cost of some vehicles by thousands of dollars.
“Bill Shorten’s vehicle policy is light on detail, but what we do know is under Labor and their vehicle emissions target, the price of vehicles will increase by up to $5000,” he said.
He said most of the nation’s most popular cars would disappear under Labor’s policy.
Meanwhile, tradies and mums doing school runs agree switching to electric cars under Mr Shorten’s ambitious plan would be a hip pocket hit too hard to bear.
Glenco co-director Brad Rosen, whose 40 tradies provide electrical, airconditioning and security services across Sydney, said the plan would not be cost effective for his company fleet of 25 cars.
“Number one is cost, number two is charging — I give my vehicles to my (tradies) to take home,” he said.
“They would then have to have a charging station at home … if I had a business where all my cars could go back to the one stop and they could charge every night that would be great — if Labor can buy me a really big carpark.”
Mother Anu Sawhney, 38, who uses her SUV to drive her daughter Eirya to school in Burwood, said buying an electric car was unaffordable for her family.
“They can start from about $50,000 to $200,000 … the math doesn’t add up.”
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