Press conference, Sydney

BRETT REDMAN (Transgrid): Welcome, everybody. And a special welcome today to Minister Bowen as we kick off the first electric ute here in Australia. At Transgrid we are excited to announce our trial of the first duel cab electric production vehicle production ute here in Australia. At Transgrid, we are focused on building the energy superhighways that will move Australia into that cleaner, lower-cost energy future. And Transgrid supports the Federal Government's climate targets. 

Transgrid has a goal of being net zero by 2040 and for our vehicle fleet to be zero emissions by 2030. Transgrid vehicles drive about 14 million kilometres every year. So, today's announcement is all about moving towards that cleaner future where we're moving towards electric vehicles throughout our fleet. Transgrid expects to see a reduction in costs of about 50% of fuel costs and lower maintenance costs as a result of moving to electric vehicles. I'd like to thank today our fleet manager, Ryan Thomas, and our MC and GM, Craig Stallan, for putting this event together. For Transgrid, this is a very important initiative. We are excited to announce the first electric ute in Australia from a production line I'd now like to hand to Mr Bowen to make a few remarks.

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, thanks very much, Brett, and thanks for inviting me out today for this important day. A few very brief remarks from me to welcome the first dual cab electric ute to Australia and to welcome it into the Transgrid fleet. Australia is in the early stages of a massive transformation in the way we move around the country. I'm delighted that we've had an 87% increase in EV sales in the last figures. Of course, the government's electric vehicle tax cut, cutting the tariffs and cutting the fringe benefits tax on fleet purchases is a very important part of our agenda. And, of course, we have much, much more to do converting the Commonwealth fleet to electric and the National Electric Vehicle Strategy, which will be taking further steps in the not-to-distant future. But this is a great day, congratulations to Transgrid. Importantly, this sort of vehicle is not only important for Transgrid, but as it travels around and people see it and people are reminded that actually electric vehicles are great vehicles, you can carry a load, you can charge your tools at the back. It's a demonstration effect as well. So, thank you to Brett and Transgrid for this investment and look forward to working with Transgrid and other big fleet purchases right across Australia and individuals on this transformation. What we might do is Brett and I can take questions on this and electric vehicles and then I might open up. I might take political questions of the day, Brett, without worrying you about such matters.

BRETT REDMAN: No problem.

CHRIS BOWEN: I might start with anybody here on site and then go to the phone.

JOURNALIST: Can you tell us a bit more about – you spoke about the demonstration effects, but can you tell us a bit more about what the Federal Government's been doing in terms of investigating hybrid and electric vehicles?

CHRIS BOWEN: Sure. So, what we've done is a number of things. We've passed our electric vehicle tax cut through the Parliament. That's, in effect. That's having an impact. We're in the process – Katy Gallagher and I are developing the plans to convert the Commonwealth fleet to zero emissions. That will happen over the period of next couple of years. But that's important because we're a big fleet in the Commonwealth, but also, we turn vehicles over once every three years. That leads to a second-hand market. And, of course, the Commonwealth's not alone there, other big fleets turn over on a similar time frame. So hopefully in two or three year’s time, we're starting to get the beginnings of a second-hand market. And then we're also developing the National Electric Vehicle Strategy. We're also about to roll out our Driving the Nation policy, which is a electric charger once every 150 kilometres on our highway network. That's important for building confidence both to fleet purchases and to individuals that they can travel right around Australia and there'll be a charger available to them. This is all part of the journey we're on. Any questions on the phone, on EVs or – then I'll take other matters.

JOURNALIST: Thank you for taking questions over the phone. So, I was just reading through some of the submissions that have been published online this week regarding the strategy. Some have raised concerns if Australia keeps moving towards electric vehicles, that Australians on lower middle incomes will be left behind. What would you say to that?

CHRIS BOWEN: What I say to that is that's part of the opportunity to make sure that all Australians have a choice. I don't want electric vehicles to be just something available to people who are wealthy and they won't be under us. With policies to encourage supply, with policies to reduce the price of electric vehicles, they become more available. And you don't need to just take my word for it. Look around the world. There are many more affordable electric vehicles available, say, for example, in the United Kingdom, different models that are much cheaper than are available in Australia, because other countries have put the policy settings in place to get cheaper electric vehicles in. This is about choice for me. I want every Australian, whether it's a young person buying their first car or a family or a retiree, to have the choice of an electric vehicle, a realistic choice, a real choice, to have an affordable electric vehicle. At the moment, I agree that's not so much the case, but with the right policy settings in place, we can have electric vehicles available to all, regardless of where they live. That's why charging infrastructure in rural and regional Australia is important, regardless of their income. That's why policies to improve supply and bring down the price are important. We've got some of those. We'll tackle more of those in the National Electric Vehicle Strategy. This needs to be a technology available to all.

JOURNALIST: Well, the opposition claims that the plan to get more Australians to cheaper electric cars would actually push up the price of larger cars that run on fuel. Is that the case?

CHRIS BOWEN: The opposition, the opposition that has said an electric vehicle can't tow a boat and will ruin the weekend. That opposition? Zero credibility. Zero credibility. I mean, these guys just don't like modern technology. They're stuck in the past. They don't understand the world's on a transition. They don't want Australians to have a choice of electric vehicle. I mean, they have made themselves irrelevant in this transformation.

JOURNALIST: But how will you avoid that happening?

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, what we're doing is, as I said. Cutting the taxes, converting the fleet, providing the charging infrastructure and the National Electric Vehicle Strategy, which Catherine King and I are working on and working up. We'll be looking at options to improve supply of electric vehicles and low emissions vehicles to Australians, which is so lacking. I mean, Australians are way ahead of the previous government and they're way ahead of the market. If you try and get an electric vehicle at the moment, you got to get on a waiting list. You can wait 12, 18 months because the supply isn't coming through. Now, the opposition doesn't want us to fix that problem. They oppose the electric vehicle tax cuts. They're meant to be for lower taxes. They like lower taxes, apparently, for everything except low emissions vehicles. I mean, they've just made themselves irrelevant.

JOURNALIST: Minister Rob Scott from Seven News. How crucial to reaching net zero do you think it is to move away from traditional internal combustion cars onto electric vehicles?

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, transport emissions and passenger emissions particularly are around 11% of our emissions. So that's important. It’s important. Transport is a growing sector of emissions when you consider that we are, as a country, reducing emissions from electricity generation at a rapid rate, so, therefore, other sectors become more important. So, I put it alongside electricity generation, industry generation, agriculture. I put it alongside all those as an important part of the puzzle.

JOURNALIST: In terms of fuel efficiency standards, we are down the bottom of the barrel, really, with Russia, but the only majority standards in place. So, what are you doing about that?

CHRIS BOWEN: Australia and Russia are the only two developed countries in the world without fuel efficiency standards. We made it clear, Catherine King and I, when we released a consultation paper on the National Electric Vehicle Strategy that that is something the country needs to consider. And when we make our next announcements about the National Electric Vehicle Strategy in the not-too-distant future, we'll be outlining further thoughts on the way forward.

JOURNALIST: Can I just confirm what the next step is?

CHRIS BOWEN: On the National Electric Vehicle Strategy, Catherine King and I'll be making further announcements. I'm not making that announcement today, but obviously, we put out a consultation paper last year. Many, many submissions received, all read by me and Catherine and our departments and we're working through those and we'll have further announcements to make.

JOURNALIST: If I could just ask Mr. Redman a quick question about the ute?

BRETT REDMAN: Yeah, go for it.

JOURNALIST: Brett, what's it going to be doing? What sort of work will you be using it for?

BRETT REDMAN: So, this year it's going to be focused on our metro areas. So, it's a way of getting our workforce used to using electric vehicles in workforce applications. So, shorter metro runs, as we get more used to it, will bring in longer-run vehicles to get out there in the regions. Little things like the ute has a 240 volt charge point in the back, so that rather than needing to run a diesel generator when we have tools out in sight, we can just plug them straight in. These are some of the modern benefits that are going to come from using an electric ute.

JOURNALIST: How costly are they?

BRETT REDMAN: So, the on-the-road price for this first one is in the order of about $90,000. So, it's a beginning. It's a beginning that we'll start to see that cost average down. Bearing in mind this is the first electric ute off a production line to arrive here in Australia. So, we're beginning the journey, if you like, that we start to blend them into our fleet. And in the future, I'm quite confident the upfront costs will come down and I know from day one we're going to see savings like 50% lower fuel costs and much cheaper maintenance costs. One of the facts about the electric ute is it's got something like 20 moving parts in a drivetrain compared to 2000 parts in a diesel equivalent. So, we'll see lower maintenance costs and lower fuel costs that will help offset a higher upfront cost.

CHRIS BOWEN: Okay, are they all the questions on EV’s?

JOURNALIST: Yes.

CHRIS BOWEN: Okay, we might move to other matters of the day. Any here on site?

JOURNALIST: Yeah, I’ve got a question. Matt Kean has said he wants – you agreed to stump up the cash to fund energy bill relief. Why is the government waiting [indistinct]?

CHRIS BOWEN: States and territories requested more time to work through the issues. It'll be delivered in the May budget. That's entirely in keeping with the announcements and agreements that we've previously reached. I note that that's when the New South Wales Energy Bill relief applies as well. So, we're on a very similar timetable and I have nothing to add for the Treasurer's comments from yesterday, which were entirely accurate. Questions on the phone?

JOURNALIST: Minister, Matt Doran from the ABC. There are reports that another Australian has been killed or confirmed to have died in the earthquake in Turkey. Do you have any information about that?

CHRIS BOWEN: I have no further information that we're able to make public at this point. I have seen that report and obviously, I've seen the announcement made by, I think, that gentleman's daughter and of course the Government's heart, and I'm sure every single Australian heart, goes to that family and the family of the Australian killed and indeed to everybody impacted by this earthquake. And we have made announcements about the level of support we will supply and of course, the Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister and the entire Government will keep that situation under monitoring to see if there's anything further we should do. But this is a terribly tragic event which has impacted two countries in a terrible way. And I know the thoughts of all Australians are with everyone, including the families of those two Australians who have lost their lives.

JOURNALIST: Minister, do you have an update on the research and rescue crews that left from Sydney yesterday? Do you know if they've arrived in Turkey yet?

CHRIS BOWEN: I'm not in a position to provide you an update. I'm sure the Foreign Minister will when she is able to.

JOURNALIST: Minister, Matt from the ABC again. Your cabinet colleague Michelle Rowland has come under fire this week for accepting effectively, a donation from an online gambling company. How is it feasible for the Minister to have done that, considering that she has oversight of online gambling regulation in Australia?

CHRIS BOWEN: The reason this is public is because the Minister declared it. Declared it in full and transparent and open way, as she should and as she did. And this government has a strong policy when it comes to gambling avoidance and she's going about the process of implementing it. I mean, the important thing is that we determine our policies based on evidence and that's exactly what this Minister has done. And she's implementing a good and strong policy.

JOURNALIST: But it's declaring something that could be seen as a conflict of interest. Enough to avoid a conflict of interest?

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, I think she's complied with all the requirements under all the law. She's declared that and she's getting on with a strong anti-gambling approach, or gambling avoidance approach.

JOURNALIST: The Centre for Public Integrity has released an analysis today about just how much money is coming from donations. They're describing it as hidden donations. Do you think that this incident, the reporting around yesterday from the ABC regarding money from Hancock Prospecting that went to the Liberal Party, do you think that there is an argument for wider reform of Australia's political donation regime at a federal level?

CHRIS BOWEN: Yeah. The Australian Labor Party has, for a long time now, declared more than we were required to under the disclosure laws of the previous government. We've declared at a lower threshold. We think that's appropriate and that has been the case for some time. We've also argued for lower reporting thresholds and I'm sure that Minister Farrell will continue to prosecute that case.

JOURNALIST: Minister, the restriction placed on processing family visa applications by permanent people with permanent visas who arrived here by both, that's been listed. The opposition is claiming this will start a new wave of boat arrivals. How will you avoid that?

CHRIS BOWEN: Well, can I say that this is an important step forward for families who have been separated for a long time. And can I say for you, as a member of Parliament who spends a lot of time with my constituents trying to reunite families, I welcome this step. I welcome this step. And you can be tough on border approaches and be compassionate. And can I tell you, there is nothing compassionate about separating for a decade or more, a father from his children or other families, family members from each other. And that's what we've been doing. And we went to the election saying we would abolish TPVs. We're in the process of doing that. But this is an important step forward for reuniting families, and it's disappointing that the opposition would seek to play politics about that. We will maintain strong border protection; we will maintain boat turnbacks. We'll maintain those policies. But at the same time, separating children from their parents is not part, in my view, of a sustainable board policy. And I welcome Minister Giles's decision.

JOURNALIST: Thank you. I think that’s it for today.

CHRIS BOWEN: That's a wrap. We're all in, all done? Pleasure doing business with you. Thank you.