Doorstop - National EV Summit, Canberra

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, thanks for coming everyone. Today we're announcing the next significant step in Australia's electric vehicle policy.

We went the election promising an electric vehicle strategy to be developed in office. And that's exactly of course, what we will deliver building on the election commitments to cut the fringe benefits tax and tariffs and to roll out charging infrastructure across the country and to convert the Commonwealth fleet to electric. Today I have announced that we'll be releasing a discussion paper in September, on the elements of the National Electric Vehicle strategy. 

Importantly, I've announced that the paper will deal with the matter of fuel efficiency standards. Now, I can understand a lot of people wouldn't know what a fuel efficiency standard is because we don't have one in Australia. Basically, it's a requirement on manufacturers to send a balance of cars to Australia, a fleet, which reflects good emissions, they could still send our high emissions vehicles, internal combustion engine vehicles to Australia, but they've got to be counterbalanced with no or low emission vehicles. There's got to be a genuine effort by manufacturers to send good electric and no emissions vehicles to Australia. 

At the moment frankly, I'm sorry to say Australia is a dumping ground for cars which would not be able to be sent to other countries. More than 80% of cars around the world are sold in jurisdictions with fuel emission standards, fuel efficiency standards. Australia and Russia are really the only developed countries without fuel efficiency standards. It's time to have a sensible, mature conversation about changing that. 

So we'll be consulting about that. We'll also be consulting about design elements as part of that process. This is the way we like to do things in the Albanese Government. Yesterday, I issued a consultation paper about our detailed design of the safeguards mechanism. Today, I'm flagging a consultation paper about the national electric vehicle strategy and fuel efficiency standards. Because we do want to bring Australians with us. We want good ideas, we want feedback. And I want to work with people across the sector, whether they be from the manufacturers or the Electric Vehicle Council, both of whom I've spoken to about this, and I'm looking forward to strong engagement, to strong feedback about this. 

The time for cheap politics, for saying it will “end the weekend” or take away Utes is over. Australians want a sensible discussion about how we can get cheaper, better cars in Australia, We're in a cost of living crisis. Petrol is very expensive. If you have an electric vehicle, you never need to lift the nozzle at a petrol station ever again. It's cheaper to run, but they're expensive to buy and that is a result of policy. Because our policy settings in Australia have discouraged manufacturers from sending affordable electric vehicles to Australia. It's time to have the conversation about ending that and we're starting that conversation today. 

I'm very much looking forward to the feedback. I'm very much looking forward to working with my colleagues, Catherine King, the Minister for Transport, Ed Husic, the Minister for Industry who wants to see Australia playing a bigger role in making electric vehicles. This is the way of the future and we're taking the next big step on that journey today. Happy to take questions. 

JOURNALIST: Is this a carbon tax? 

CHRIS BOWEN: No. 

JOURNALIST: And why didn't you take it to the election? 

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, we made clear we’d develop an electric vehicle strategy in office and that's exactly what we're doing. And that's sort of cheap. I've seen a Senator from Queensland out today saying this will end the Utes. I mean, Australians are over that sort of cheap, dishonest, pathetic sort of politics. We're consulting, we're getting on with the job.

JOURNALIST: Can you just explain why it’s not a carbon tax?

CHRIS BOWEN: Because it isn't. 

JOURNALIST: Minister, you mentioned the price is one of the biggest barriers, people who potentially want electric vehicles, and part of the reason for those high prices is because of our policy settings. How would an emission standard bring down the cost of electric vehicles? 

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, what it would do is would require manufacturers to send potentially affordable electric vehicles, hydrogen vehicles, no emission vehicles to Australia. At the moment, there's no obligation on them to do so. So manufacturers, you know, whatever manufacturer looks at the rules around the world and says, “Well, we have to send low emissions vehicle to this country, we have to send them to this country, we have to send to this country, Australia doesn't need them, doesn't require them so they last in the list. If we got some leftover, well, maybe we'll send them some, but we're not sending them any now."

So we would require, again, depending on the design elements, manufacturers to send a proportion of the cars that they send to Australia be affordable, low emissions vehicles, I think Australians deserve that choice. It's about choice. As I said, in my speech. At the moment, Australians miss out on choice. I want Australians to have the choice and have more choices. I know many Australians would love to drive an electric vehicle. But they look at the cost and they look at the availability in Australian and say it just doesn't stack up. And reluctantly, they go and buy an internal combustion engine vehicle. It's time for Australians to get a fair go when they're deciding about the next car.

JOURNALIST: Given the government previously didn't already have a policy in this area, how many years do you think Australia is behind say Europe?

CHRIS BOWEN: About a decade. 

JOURNALIST: And also now that since there's that gap, how soon would you like to see that consultation paper back and policy in place? 

CHRIS BOWEN: Oh, look, as I said, we'll announce-- we'll release the paper in September, it'll be open for the normal sort of consultation period, we'll announce that when we release the paper. But you know, give people time, the paper I released yesterday is out, for example, until 20 September, that's the sort of time that people need to work issues through. Then I will take it through the Cabinet with my friend and colleague, Catherine King, in terms of our response. And we'll work it through carefully. So I'm not going to put a timeframe on it today, Peter, but I think we're showing we're serious about getting on with the job. 

JOURNALIST: Because you didn't take this policy to the election, it wasn't part of the Reputex modelling. Now, that paper said you guys were estimating that by 2030 89% of the new car sales would be EVs. In light of this policies, you'd have to revise that target? Some people said you wouldn't be able to reach that target without fuel efficiency standards. Do you still think it's possible? 

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, to be fair, Dan, the Reputex modelling assumed 89% take up, that's what they-- that was the result of their modelling. That's where they're modelling it. It wasn't a material input to the 43% emissions reduction, fuel efficiency standards are only going to see faster emissions reduction. I mean, if they're introduced, it's only going to help in emissions reduction. So that's a good thing. That's a good thing. And of course, if we do and they're implemented, and their work will now reflected in the updates I'll give to Parliament every year. 

JOURNALIST: Do you still think you'll get to that 89%? 

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, I want to see uptake of electric vehicles and hydrogen vehicles at as faster rate as possible, as is practical. And I think having a discussion about fuel efficiency standards will help that along.

JOURNALIST: You said that some Australian won’t need to go to a petrol station to fill up ever again, what impact will that have on fuel excise? How will the government adjust? 

CHRIS BOWEN: Obviously, that's a discussion for the Commonwealth and States and Territories to have over time. That's not something we're focusing on right now. This is about taking the uptake. Obviously, that's a discussion that will need to be had over time. 

JOURNALIST: A potential tax? 

CHRIS BOWEN: I'm not. That's not what we're talking about today. 

JOURNALIST: It's just been said inside, I think by Mike Cannon-Brooks that whatever the eventual design, this standards can't work unless they meet those that we see in Europe and United States. Do you agree? 

CHRIS BOWEN: I dealt with that in my speech, and said that we should go for best practice. If we go for this, we're going to make sure that we're not left behind.

JOURNALIST: In Europe, the way these standards work, there's a penalty for every car that they sell above that level. What's the penalty going to be here? And do we collect that revenue? 

CHRIS BOWEN: Jacob, the idea of a consultation paper is to consult on ideas, feedback, work through carefully and methodically. That's what we're doing. If you're asking me Jacob, to announce the details of a fuel efficiency standards today with respect, you might have missed the announcement that we're going to consult. 

JOURNALIST: That's a pretty basic design element. 

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, that's what a consultation does Jacob. 

JOURNALIST: What is it? 

CHRIS BOWEN: That's what a consultation does, works through the issues. That's how we do business in the Albanese government, we don't sort of go out and say, “Oh, this is terrible. We're going to end the weekend”. We actually bring communities with us, put ideas out there, work collaboratively across the Parliament with people of goodwill across the Parliament who want to see real emissions reductions, as we did with the climate bill, working with people with good ideas, regardless of where they sit in the Parliament. I'll take good ideas in good faith and work them through. That's how we do business.

JOURNALIST: Independent MP Kylea Tink is going to introduce a proposal to bring a fuel emissions standards into line of international markets within two years, is that the kind of timeline that..?

CHRIS BOWEN: Obviously, I have a lot of respect for members of the crossbench and the ideas they put forward. But we'll work the issues through as part of the consultation process. Obviously, I'll talk to members of the crossbench in due course about their ideas as part of that consultation process.

JOURNALIST: Just back to why you didn't take this to the election. There was a pretty compelling argument in your speech, Australia and Russia are the only OECD countries that don't have it. It's clearly a policy the industry wants, why didn’t you take it to the election? Were you scared?

CHRIS BOWEN: Dan what we took the election was a series of detailed policies and we also said we would develop an electric vehicle strategy in office. That's what we took to the election. And that's what we're implementing. 

JOURNALIST: Generally bringing those prices down, you spoke before about bringing more electric vehicles to Australia as supply is one of those things to bring the prices down. Are you confident though, that that will bridge the gap between the cost of the internal combustion vehicle and an EV because in some cases, that's 10s of 1000s of dollars?

CHRIS BOWEN: In part, in part it will be one of the factors. The cost of electric vehicles is coming down. Just as a matter of scientific development, just as the cost of solar panels has, you know, massively fallen over the last more than a decade, the cost of batteries will eventually come down, the cost of EVs will come down and will reach parity with internal combustion engines in the foreseeable future. As an average, not every car, obviously. But as an average, you'll find electric vehicles reaching price parity with internal combustion engines in the next few years.

Of course, any policy which helps, like potentially fuel efficiency standards, like our electric vehicle tax cut, is a good thing. I don't claim that fuel efficiency standards would be the only thing which will see the price of EVs coming down because that is happening anyway. But anything we can do to help it along, and importantly, encourage good supply to Australia is a very good thing. 

JOURNALIST: Minister, another MP who is at the meeting today, noted that in the week that you're putting out the consultation paper about the safeguard mechanism, the government is also out seeking expression of interest for offshore oil and gas. To take the car analogy, is that the government has got a kind of a brake on emissions, but also an accelerator?

CHRIS BOWEN: No, Peter, that was-- that's a standard departmental process, which is underway with the Department of Resources as you would expect.

JOURNALIST: I know you're really keen on getting more cars into the second hand market, more EVs into the second hand market. Have you considered or would you consider parallel imports of EVs from these other markets, where there will be more secondary EVs available? 

CHRIS BOWEN: Oh, look, there's a long standing parallel import restriction in Australia. My focus is on fuel efficiency standards because parallel imports, you know, is really a way around a lack of manufacture supply. I'd rather as the first option, fix the lack of manufacture supply. 

Okay, that's a wrap. Thank you.

ENDS