‘Parking tripled’: Shock move for SUV owners

Owners of massive SUVs that have stirred up anger among fellow Aussie motorists could have their parking rates tripled under a new plan.

A plan to introduce parking taxes for owners of “killer” SUVs like imported US pick-up trucks in Sydney has hit a speed bump – but it might not be the end of the road.

Greens councillors of the City of Sydney have vowed to return with a more detailed proposal after their first attempt was voted down seven to two on Monday.

Councillor Matthew Thompson’s notice of motion called on council executives to investigate potentially tripling the hourly parking rates for large SUVs and trucks – raising the price from $8.20 to $24.60.

“As a council we don’t have the power to literally tax SUVs, although I wish,” he said at Monday night’s meeting.

“So we’re asking council staff to investigate what other levers we can pull at the local level to get these killers off our streets and to keep our community safe.”

SUVs accounted for almost 57 per cent of new car sales in 2024 and most of the top-10 selling cars in Australia were SUVs. American-style trucks are also popping up on Aussie roads more often.

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NRMA spokesperson Peter Khoury, however, has slammed the idea as “baffling” and said it could “kill off” business and foot traffic in the CBD.

Mr Khoury wondered how such a plan could be enforced and said no one should be slugged almost $25 per hour for parking.

Not an ideal parking attempt.

“The city desperately needs a shot in the arm, this will do the opposite,” he said.

“If you wanted to kill off the city once and for all, this is the way to do it.”

Councillor Matthew Thompson (right). Picture: Instagram

NRMA spokesperson Peter Khoury. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Bianca De Marchi

Mr Thompson has pointed to the popularity of Paris’ measures, which were introduced after a public referendum, adding London was considering similar measures.

Melbourne council the City of Yarra – which covers inner suburbs like Fitzroy and Richmond – also last year voted to explore higher parking fees and costs for drivers of large SUVs and trucks.

“SUVs are killers – they are far more dangerous than normal passenger cars and pose increased risks to pedestrians, cyclists and other road-users, with children eight times more likely to die when hit by a SUV,” Mr Thompson’s notice of motion read.

The American-style pick-up truck is taking over Australian roads. Picture: Reddit

He also noted their high carbon emissions and the damage done to roads via their weight.

His Greens colleague, Councillor Sylvie Ellsmore spoke in favour saying she had been surprised at the level of support from community members.

Ms Ellsmore said the proposal would target the “monster utes” weighing up to three tonnes: “it’s not about all SUVs, or all cars, it’s about the really big ones”.

She shared the story of one parent who bought a large car after theirs was “wiped out” by an SUV and felt they “didn’t have a choice” in order to protect their family.

“If every other parent has a tank that they’re taking their children to school in, are you going to be the one parent who feels like they can’t do that?” the Greens councillor said.

“They referred to it as ‘can you please help get us out of this arms race?’.”

Paris voted to raise parking for SUVs. Picture: Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP

The Motorcycle Riders Association Australia strongly supported Mr Thompson’s motion, saying increased fees were “a start in discouraging people from using oversized utes/SUVs in our cities”.

Spokesperson Damien Codognotto told news.com.au the MRAA had also lobbied Melbourne and Hobart city councils to bring in similar rules due to safety and maintenance concerns.

“The reason they are here in such big numbers (large SUVs) is because regulations have pretty much banned them in North America and Europe,” he said.

“They are spending a lot of money in Australia … they’re appealing to egos so they can basically dump them in the Australian market.”

Last year the director of Monash University’s Accident Research Centre, Stuart Newstead, said there was a clear link between the rising popularity of large cars and increasing road deaths.

“Some interesting work we did recently showed that if we replaced the entire vehicle fleet with commercial utes, we’d actually increase the road toll by about 25 per cent,” he told 9 News.

“Which is quite an alarming statistic.”

City of Sydney Councillor Jess Miller said she hoped the plan would come back in a “new form”. Picture: AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts

Councillors Yvonne Weldon, Olly Arkins and Jess Miller spoke against Mr Thompson’s motion saying it did not strike the right balance.

But all expressed support for some of its facets, like the need to reduce emissions and road safety.

“I don’t think this council has ever had a practice of banning things and telling people what to do and taking that heavy-handed approach. But instead has looked at ways to incentivise practical alternatives,” Ms Miller told the meeting.

“So not withstanding that yeah, it’s a shame that we’ve become the kind of receptacle for the world’s worst cars thanks to some pretty awful federal policies over time.

“I think that in this case it’s probably much more prudent to stay the course, stay strategic and make sure that we get the outcome that I think we all desire in terms of safety, emissions and equity.

“But in a way that’s well considered and not dropping things on people that they might not be ready for.”

Australian Dodge Ram 1500 owners say parking is not an issue and poor parking is not limited to large American pick-up trucks. Picture: Facebook

Ms Ellsmore said the Greens would workshop the proposal and come back to council with it in the near future.

“And I don’t think it’s a problem that’s going to increase, not go away given the trend of how many people have them who do not need them,” she said.

“It’s not about the tradies, it’s about the people who do not need them – that we have to get them out of these cars into smaller cars and tell them you shouldn’t visit and you shouldn’t own them in the city if you don’t have to.”