Greens unveil policy to phase out petrol and diesel vehicles, with new incentives for electric cars

MOTORISTS would only be able to buy electric cars from 2030 under a Greens plan for Australia to match the United Kingdom and ban the sale of petrol and diesel vehicles.

MOTORISTS would only be able to buy electric cars from 2030 under a Greens plan for Australia to match the United Kingdom and ban the sale of petrol and diesel vehicles.

The new policy, to be ann­ounced today, would see GST, stamp and registration duties and import tariffs scrapped from the sale of new electric cars, reducing their price by up to 20 per cent.

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The Greens also want electric vehicle buyers to get free registration for three years, saving as much as $3000.

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The radical plan — matching similar policies in France, India, Norway and the Netherlands — has been unveiled by the Greens ahead of this weekend’s by-election in Batman, in Melbourne’s north, where their candidate Alex Bhathal is the narrow favourite.

Greens candidate for Batman Alex Bhathal, Greens leader Richard Di Natalie and Victorian senator Janet Rice. Picture: Joe Castro/AAP

To speed up the transition to electric cars, the Greens are also proposing a $151 million grants program to build more than 3000 fast-charging stations across Australia.

The hi-tech stations would provide electric cars with 80 per cent of their full power ­capacity in 15 to 30 minutes.

Greens transport spokeswo­man Janet Rice said action was needed to stop Australia beco­ming a “dumping ground for the most polluting vehicles as the rest of the world moves on”.

“The electric vehicle revolution is unstoppable and Aust­ralians should have the oppor­tunity to embrace this global shift to electric vehicles,” the Victorian senator said.

She said the Greens’ plan would benefit the environment while making electric vehicles more affordable.

It also includes changes to light vehicle emissions standards and targets for car manufacturers to hit on sales of electric and hybrid vehicles prior to the 2030 phase-out deadline.

The cost of dumping taxes on electric vehicles would be offset by a 17 per cent luxury car tax on petrol and diesel ­vehicles worth more than $65,000 for the next four years.

Ms Bhathal will help ann­ounce the policy in Batman today, and said Australia needed to get out of “the slow lane when it comes to electric vehicles”.

Greens climate change spo­kesman Adam Bandt said the phase-out of petrol and diesel cars — which are usually on the road for up to 20 years — would help Australia meet its emissions reduction commitments.

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