Bill goes electric

Bill Shorten has a Tesla. The former Labor leader is the first federal politician to forgo fuel and select a fully electric vehicle as his taxpayer-funded car.

Bill Shorten and his Tesla.

Bill Shorten has a Tesla. The former Labor leader is the first federal politician to forgo fuel and select a fully electric vehicle as his taxpayer-funded car. There are currently 25 other pollies behind the wheel of hybrids. Shorten picked up the keys to his white Model 3 SR+ ($67,798 drive away) at the end of June, but had to wait until Melbourne came out of lockdown before he could cruise the Elon Musk mobile around Moonee Ponds. The 54-year-old gushed that it was love at first test drive. “I haven’t looked back – neither has my family,” Shorten said. “It’s excellent to drive, it’s economical and I feel like I’m helping the environment. And it’s cheaper to run than a petrol car, saving the taxpayer money.” How much? He estimates nearly $4000 a year. If every federal pollie went electric, it would add $900k-plus to the budget bottom line … or almost five extra $200k spots to the Central Coast commuter car park! Shorten said it took a fair bit of negotiation with the Department of Finance to get the Tesla added to the parliamentary car pool. Which is surprising, given Strewth first revealed back in February that the Morrison government had started its U-turn on EVs – well before Scott Morrison’s choose your own road to Damascus on Tuesday. Finance Minister Simon Birmingham leased two electric cars – a Hyundai Ioniq and Tesla Model 3 – to chauffeur politicians around the Canberra Bubble™. It’s part of a two-year trial by Finance to “assess the viability” for future Comcar fleets, which will soon see one sent to Sydney and the other to Melbourne for on-road and off-road assessments – mainly to ensure there is minimal disruption to politicians’ daily needs given the EVs’ “charging requirements”. We’re assured the Tesla and Hyundai comply with the “Australian government fleet vehicle selection policy” that requires each car to provide value for money and “addresses environmental considerations”. The question remains … does the five-star safety rating include a hot coffee clause? After spilling a scalding short black on his lap in 2015, Shorten sideswiped some parked cars in Carlton. His late mother’s car was written off but luckily no one was injured.

Great to see everyday Aussies embracing electric cars at the Moonee Valley E Car Festival. pic.twitter.com/idueAQTkYg

— Bill Shorten (@billshortenmp) April 17, 2021

Fork in the road

Even Bob Katter drives a hybrid – a “bottom of the range” Toyota Kluger, he informed Strewth – across his vast Queensland electorate. The maverick MP plans to introduce a sovereign fuel security bill to parliament later this month, drafted in consultation with some other crossbenchers. It would ensure all government cars in metropolitan areas are electric, made in Australia by Australian-owned companies and run on Australian batteries. It also has a mandate for renewables (including ethanol and algae), would ban the export of Indigenous Australian oil and ensure all waste (household and industrial) is turned into diesel. “How any MP could look their constituents in the eye and not vote for it, I’m buggered if I know,” Katter declared.

Bob Katter.

It’s not a race

We’ve come a long way since ScoMo claimed Labor’s 2019 election policy – that EVs should comprise 50 per cent of new car sales by 2030 – would spell “the end of the weekend”. Cried the PM: “The sort of vehicles that Shorten wants you to drive, you can’t get one for less than $45,000 and it won’t tow that boat, it won’t tow that trailer.” Cut to Tuesday, when ScoMo said he has no regrets. Then got a haircut. Shorten opted for a zinger when asked about Morrison’s new car musk. “Listen, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery in politics,” he said. “Mr Morrison must read my policy book at night-time for ideas.”

Scott Morrison.

Park that thought

Shorten follows in the tyre tracks of NSW Treasurer Matt Kean, who became the first politician in the country to sign up a Tesla (also a Model 3) to a government fleet in the middle of last year. Victorian Liberal Katie Allenpurchased her own Tesla earlier this year – “It’s like an iPhone on wheels” – which remarkably didn’t come fully charged! Allen plans to use it as her campaign car in the lead up to the next election, which this column can now officially confirm will take place in 2022. Indie Zali Steggall also finally fulfilled her 2019 election promise to go electric a few months ago, trading in her gas-guzzling SUV for a hybrid.

Adam Bandt.

How shocking

What about Adam Bandt? When Strewth reached the Greens leader on Tuesday, he was isolating while waiting on a Covid test result and watching ScoMo’s electric slide on TV. Of all the days to be out of action! Especially as the party’s transport spokeswoman, Sarah Hanson-Young, is busy marching with teen sailing enthusiast Greta Thunberg in Glasgow. Bandt has been driving plug-in cars since “before it was cool” and suspects he was the first federal pollie to start using a hybrid – a Mitsubishi Outlander ($34,490 drive away) – a few years ago. The Greens won’t be launching their electric dreams until candidates hit the hustings. But Strewth understands there will be money to boost the local EV manufacturing industry and subsidies to make the cars cheaper. Bandt has also been desperately trying to get charging stations installed outside his electoral office in Fitzroy, to no avail. Perhaps the PM could add this to his opt-in plan? You know what they say … with great power comes great electricity.

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