Anthony Albanese calls for national approach to EV charges

Anthony Albanese has hit out at the “absurdity” of states going their own way on contentious electric vehicle taxes despite his party pushing ahead with its own local scheme in Victoria.

Federal Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese has hit out at the “absurdity” of states going their own way on contentious electric vehicle taxes despite his party pushing ahead with its own local scheme in Victoria.

In an apparent split from the position of the Andrews Labor Government, Mr Albanese has called on Prime Minister Scott Morrison to lead on the issue of charging for the use of low emissions cars.

It comes after 25 auto manufacturers, green groups and other organisations signed an open letter declaring Victoria’s proposal “the worst electric vehicle policy in the world”.

The state government wants to charge drivers of zero emission cars 2.5c per km travelled, or 2c per km for low emission cars.

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese at Brunswick Industries Association. Picture: Sarah Matray.

Opponents have warned the policy will discourage the use of cleaner cars while advocates believe the charges are vital toc over the loss of fuel excise as the technology becomes more popular.

Mr Albanese said the federal government had abandoned its own inquiry into the topic and this meant it was not surprisingstates had gone their own way.

“Some of the road funding, of course, comes from petrol taxation,” he said.

“The nature of electric vehicles is that they don’t, obviously, pay that tax and the federal government needs to have a comprehensive plan.

“Michael McCormack, as the federal Minister, needs to explain exactly how it is that the government plans to deal with theseissues so that we don’t have the absurdity of the different states and territories going different ways as we see, increasingly, a rollout of electric vehicles.”

Speaking on Thursday about the open letter, Victoria’s Innovation Minister Jaala Pulford said the government would be proceedingwith the reform as planned.

“Overwhelmingly the Victorian community understands that for roads to be in good condition there needs to be a continual effortto maintain them and that is a cost all road users need to bear,” she said.

“That’s what this reform is about.

“With any charge and with any tax there is always going to be people who would prefer to not pay it

“Electric vehicle preference by consumers will continue to grow.”

Hyundai, Volkswagen and Uber have joined forces with other advocates to declare war on the Andrews Government’s electric vehicle charge, with 25 organisations to claim on Thursday that Victoria has the “worst electric vehicle policy in the world”.

A driver uses a fast-charging station for electric Picture: Spencer Platt/Getty Images/AFP

Treasurer Tim Pallas first announced a plan to charge electric vehicles based on their use in his latest state budget.

The state estimates this would cost owners about $300 a year.

But the laws are yet to be passed by the Victorian parliament and have met a backlash from some crossbenchers, such as the Victorian Greens, needed to get it through the upper house.

In a sign of further tensions, an open letter slamming the policy will be released on Thursday and feature support from car manufacturers, electrical infrastructure companies and environmental advocates.

Organisations such as Hyundai, Uber, Environment Victoria and the Australia Institute will claim it is the only stand-alone electric vehicle tax in the world and the policy discourages their use.

Electric Vehicle Council chief executive Behyard Jafari said Victoria was behind the USA, United Kingdom and Europe when it came up uptake of electric cars.

“Far from being on track to achieving net zero emissions by 2050, emissions from transport are rising in Victoria,” he said.

“This is the wrong time to tax zero emissions vehicles,” Mr Jafari said.

Victorian Treasurer, Tim Pallas. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Sarah Matray

Similar policies have been announced in New South Wales and South Australia but have been delayed or are still in development.

Supporters have also warned that funding collected from fuel excise, introduced to support road maintenance, will fall as electric cars become more popular and that a new charge must be introduced early.

In response to criticism over the policy, Mr Pallas has flagged the state intends to spend more money on the uptake of electric vehicles than the scheme will initially collect.

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