Radio host Ray Hadley has criticized Chris Bowen after Anthony Albanese made an extraordinary intervention in his electric car mandate plan that could have seen Australia’s best-selling vehicles rise in price.
Labour’s lofty emissions reduction targets under the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES), led by Climate Change Minister Mr Bowen, sparked a backlash from carmakers, car groups and trading nations such as Thailand and Japan.
Bowen and Transport Minister Catherine King will on Tuesday unveil an updated NVES that is expected to be a watered-down version that will particularly benefit utility vehicle manufacturers that produce Australia’s three best-selling vehicles.
The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries and the Australian Automobile Association were particularly critical and were excluded from a recent high-level NVES meeting.
There were concerns that heavier vehicles such as the Ford Ranger, Toyota HiLux, Isuzu D-Max and some SUVs could cost consumers thousands of dollars more under the new NVES rules because there are no viable hybrid or electric alternatives yet available.
The watering, which is understood to have been introduced since Albanese became involved, follows a similar watering down by Joe Biden in the US in which brands making larger vehicles such as Ford, RAM, Chevrolet and GMC can benefit from exemptions.
Albanese’s office reportedly became involved in the negotiations last week in an attempt to smooth over sour relations between his government and the auto industry and automotive groups.
“Casanova Bowen has been sidelined like he should have been,” Hadley said Tuesday on 2GB.
Ray Hadley has hit out at Chris Bowen after the efficiency standard for his new vehicle was lowered over concerns Australia’s best-selling cars would rise in price as there are no hybrid or electric alternatives yet.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese became involved in resolving the plan after a similar move in the United States by Joe Biden to ease targets on larger vehicle manufacturers.
Hadley gave Mr. Bowen a jump back.
“I have to tell the Prime Minister, I wish I could tell him personally, that when you put your hands around Casanova Bowen’s neck, it will end in tears,” Hadley said.
‘I call him Casanova because over the years everything he’s touched, well, you know what he’s done to it.
‘Whether it’s immigration, whether it’s this or any other portfolio I’ve been in.
‘HHe has been in public service his entire life and has not worked a day in his life. He went straight from university to being a lick for several Labor MPs in Sydney and then, of course, into federal parliament.
‘WWhatever you do with it, you’ll end up having to make a mea culpa and say, wait, it’s gone too far, we’ll change things.
Under the revised NVES, automakers making these larger vehicles can make concessions on their emissions by adopting other environmentally friendly technologies, such as aerodynamic improvements or green air conditioning gases.
SUVs that use the same chassis and powertrain as these vehicles, such as the Toyota Landcruiser, Ford Everest and Isuzu MUX, will also be classified as light commercial vehicles, allowing them to benefit from more flexible emissions reduction targets.
It is understood that the concessions do not apply to normal passenger vehicles.
Labor wants a 60 per cent reduction in emissions from new cars by 2029, forcing carmakers to rapidly ramp up their hybrid and electric models.
The Isuzu D-Max, the third best-selling vehicle in Australia, will be one of those to benefit from the new plan
The government was seeking a 60 percent reduction in emissions from new cars by 2029 under the previous plan, requiring automakers to quickly sell more hybrid and electric vehicles.
Defending his version of NVES, Mr Bowen said Australia was already behind much of the world in implementing better fuel standards.
“There has not been any increase in car prices in any country where this has been introduced in the last 50 years or so,” he said.
“Australians deserve these better options, Australia should have done this a long time ago, and so… we have taken a very considered approach, but it is a reform that should have been done a long time ago.”
It is estimated that cars in Australia use 20 percent more fuel than similar vehicles in the United States.
The government’s preferred model for fuel standards would see Australia reach the US average efficiency by 2028, just three years after it was implemented.
“This is an ambitious approach, but necessary to give Australia more options to use less petrol,” said a government analysis document published in February.
Bowen said that while the government was open to amendments, he dismissed opposition to the proposal as a fear campaign.
“If there are sensible suggestions that fit the approach we have taken so far, we will consider them,” he said.
“But we will deliver better choice, cheaper-to-run and lower-emission cars for Australians, which previous governments should have done years ago.”
The NVES legislation will be implemented later this year and the plan will come into force on January 1, 2025.