THE comments attributed to a Swan Hill Toyota dealer in Tuesday’s The Guardian echo what I am hearing from car dealerships across the federal electorate of Mallee about Labor’s planned family car tax.
Labor calls it a “fuel efficiency standard” but make no mistake, this is about helping more people in the cities buy electric vehicles.
The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries have bravely published their projections on what the new standards, potentially from January 1, will mean for Mallee car buyers.
The popular Toyota LandCruiser could be taxed between $19,580 and $25,050, and the Ford Ranger could incur penalties of between $11,350 and $17,950. The Mitsubishi Outlander will incur an additional $11,650 and $12,390, and even hybrids like the Toyota RAV4 could incur penalties of $1490 and $4890 from 2027.
I also commend Sebastian Parseghian from Swan Hill Toyota for being brave in speaking up about the changes.
Why brave, you ask? First of all, in Canberra this week Labor MPs heckled me for raising these same Mallee constituent concerns in the parliament.
I am hearing significant concerns within the industry about the government monstering the motor industry if it does not roll over on this proposal.
In leafy Toorak in Melbourne, their EV uptake is over 25 times what it is in Swan Hill.
According to the motoring peak body the Australian Automobile Association, there are just three battery electric vehicles registered out of 10,791 vehicles in Swan Hill.
Anyone that thinks Labor’s family car tax will see Swan Hill residents register more EVs than Toorak residents or other Melburnians are kidding themselves.
I have been raising these concerns in Canberra for my constituents because the Albanese Labor government and Energy Minister Chris Bowen are hell bent on crashing through the objections to foist Labor’s family car tax on Mallee and Australian families and small businesses.
My Nationals colleagues and I are standing strong for regional Australians because we will fight every day to stop Labor robbing the regions to buy votes in the inner cities.
