1 day Ago By Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson
Scrapping financial penalties for automakers who fail to meet emissions standards would render transport laws "unenforceable" and would ultimately make motorists pay more to get around, groups have warned. Login or signup to continue reading Several environmental and motoring organisations issued the warnings on Wednesday after reports the coalition planned to abolish fines for car companies under Australia's New Vehicle Efficiency Standard. The fines, due to come into effect in July, would be issued to car companies whose vehicle fleets did not meet annual pollution targets.
Reports suggested the coalition would launch an election policy to remove these fines from the vehicle standard while leaving emission targets in place. Groups including the Climate Council, Australian Conservation Foundation and Australian Electric Vehicle Association slammed the proposal as a backwards step that would weaken transport regulation and invite the sale of inefficient, high-polluting vehicles. Without penalties for exceeding emission targets, Electric Vehicle Council chief executive Julie Delvecchio said, the standard could not achieve what it had been designed to do.
"To remove fines from the (standard) is a bit like having a speed limit with the speed cameras turned off," she said. "No penalties means fewer fuel-efficient vehicles and higher running costs." The New Vehicle Efficiency Standard was passed into law in May last year and set two emission targets: one for passenger cars and another for light commercial vehicles such as utes and large SUVs.
The standard was designed to encourage automakers to bring more low-emission vehicles to Australia, such as electric and hybrid cars, and its targets were set to reduce pollution from new passenger vehicles by 60 per cent in 2029. If financial penalties for failing to meet targets were removed, Greenpeace Australia Pacific climate and energy head Joe Rafalowicz said, the standard would become "unenforceable" and would no longer motivate brands to bring efficient cars to Australia. "The (standard) finally brought Australia on to the same playing field as other major countries, which have strong standards for the efficiency of cars," he said.
"Sabotaging this policy by removing penalties shunts us to the back of the pack once again." Changing the regulation could also impact motorists, Solar Citizens chief executive Heidi Lee Douglas said, as low-emission vehicles cost significantly less to run. "The average Australian spends $5000 on petrol each year and this new standard will reduce fuel costs by about $1000 per year," she said.
"Making electric vehicles more affordable will put money back in people's pockets." The reported changes have yet to be confirmed by the coalition, although opposition transport spokeswoman Bridget McKenzie has previously called the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard an "extreme family car and ute tax". The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries also recently called for the government to reconsider provisions of the standard due to slow electric vehicle sales.
Electric cars made up almost six per cent of new vehicle sales in February, but fell from 9.6 per cent during the same month last year. Australian Associated Press Daily Today's top stories curated by our news team.
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