New car pollution cap reignites ‘ute tax’ fears ahead of Albo’s Laos meeting
The Coalition has raised concerns new car pollution caps could drive up the cost of family and tradie-friendly SUVs and utes ahead of the Prime Minister’s crunch meetings with Asian leaders.
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Labor is being urged to heed the warnings of a major car importer to Australia and slow down its new emissions standards, as the Coalition warns the imminent “ute tax” will hurt households.
As Anthony Albanese arrived in Laos for the ASEAN summit of Asian leaders on Thursday, opposition trade spokesman Kevin Hogan urged the Prime Minister to listen to pleas from Thailand to delay or phase in the implementation of his government’s New Vehicle Efficiency Standards (NVES) slated to start in January.
The new standards, which apply to the entire fleet of vehicles sold by manufacturers in Australia, will ramp up over time and have been estimated to drive up the cost of some larger cars by as much as $20,000.
At the last ASEAN meeting in March, then-Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin urged the federal government to phase in the standards, which will hit car manufacturers with penalties if they exceed their emissions caps for vehicle sales in Australia.
Thailand exports more than 200,000 cars to Australia annually, including the Ford Ranger, Toyota HiLux, Isuzu D-Max, Mitsubishi Triton and Nissan Navara, but manufacturers fear Labor’s plan does not provide enough time to adjust to the new scheme.
Mr Albanese is due to meet with new Thai PM Paetongtarn Shinawatra for the first time since she was elected, and the Opposition said if the request to delay the emissions cap was repeated, then Labor must listen.
“(Former) Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin requested the Labor government consider a partial implementation or a grace period before enforcing their family car and ute tax,” Mr Hogan said.
“In the middle of a cost of living crisis, it is absurd that this government is taking measures to make Australians pay up to $25,000 more for their family car, and up to $18,000 more for popular dual cab utes like the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux.”
Mr Hogan said Labor’s “flawed policy” would “severely impact Aussie families who rely on SUVs to get their kids to school and tradies who rely on utes to do their job – markedly affecting regional areas more“.
While the government has delayed penalties for the scheme for six months, with enforcement set to start on July 1, former Thai Minister of Industry Pimpatra Wichaikul earlier this year pushed for a transition period of “at least two to three years”.
A spokeswoman for infrastructure and transport Minister Catherine King said the six-month delay to penalties was one of multiple changes introduced to ease the transition for vehicle suppliers.
She said the new standard “will encourage suppliers to sell more fuel-efficient vehicles, save drivers money on fuel, and see more fuel-efficient and zero emission vehicles available in the second-hand vehicle market over time”, while denying it would drive prices up.
During his two-day visit to Laos, Mr Albanese has also confirmed he will be meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang.
Originally published as New car pollution cap reignites ‘ute tax’ fears ahead of Albo’s Laos meeting
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