VEHICLE EMISSIONS DÉJÀ VU

For three and a half years the Government has been sitting on vehicle emissions standard recommendations from the Climate Change Authority. But Malcolm Turnbull and Josh Frydenberg avoided the subject all year, insisting on waiting on the recommendations of their long anticipated Climate Change Review.

While the Climate Change Review couldn’t be clearer about the benefits of vehicle emission standards, just as the Climate Change Authority report was in June 2014, the Turnbull Government still hasn’t committed to implementing vehicle emission standards. This even though their own review states vehicle emissions standards would save motorists up to $519 per year in 2025, with a net benefit for the entire economy of $13.9 billion over 20 years.

After a year of dithering and a yearlong Climate Change Review, we are no closer to seeing vehicle emission standards in Australia than we were  a year ago.

On December 21st last year, almost to the day, I put out a release calling on the government to implement these standards. To save repeating myself, and because this year old release is as relevant today as it was a year ago, here it is below.

Maybe Malcolm Turnbull will finally get around to implementing vehicle emissions standards in 2018, but we won’t hold our breath.

December 21, 2016

 

The Government has been paralysed for two and a half years, sitting on a report from the Climate Change Authority which recommends new vehicle emission standards for cars on Australian roads.

During this time car companies have been able to sell vehicles in Australia that are too dirty to legally sell in U.S., Canada, UK, Europe, Japan and elsewhere.

Australia is one of the very few developed nations in the world without vehicle emissions standards, which increases the cost of running a car for owners as well as increases our pollution levels.

Standards on vehicle emissions are commonplace around the world but once again we have seen the Turnbull Government dragging their feet on climate action.

The Turnbull Government’s delay over this issue is just another example of inaction around climate change- even where expert advice confirms that consumers as well as the environment benefit from climate action.

Labor went to the 2016 election promising new standards for motor vehicles to cut pollution on our roads.

But the Turnbull Government has only flagged a proposal the week of Christmas after journalists pushed for answers. It is clear the Turnbull Government is hoping they can have the issue slip under the radar of the hard right of their party, which we know pulls the strings on climate change and so many other areas of policy.

Whether the Government can implement sensible vehicle emission standards bringing Australia in line with other advanced economies will be another test for the Prime Minister’s authority.

Judging on past performance, we shouldn’t hold our breath.