Chris Bishop: Transport Minister on the review of the Clean Car Standard, slashes emission charges on importers

Changes to the Clean Car Standard has been partly caused by supply problems out of Japan.

The Government is slashing charges on importers who don't meet carbon targets by almost 80% and launching a full review.

It is expected to save about $264 million in costs to consumers and will keep imported cars cheaper.

Transport Minister Chris Bishop told Mike Hosking it's been tough getting EVs into the country.

He says importers are racking up penalties and don't have the supply to get credits.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's a big move on the cost of importing cars.

(00:01):
The government slashing emissions charges. The Clean Vehicle Standard, which
basically gives you credits for evs and a bill for VHS,
is going to get heavily reduced, it to saving of
around two hudred and sixty million dollars while they sort
of work out what to do next. Chris Bishop is
the Transport Minister and is with us morning, good morning.
I was watching you yesterday and this is not a
criticism of you, but you look like you had a headache.

(00:22):
And this is what you get when your jerrymander a market,
isn't it.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
Well, it's a complicated You did not the first business
say that. Actually it's a complicated situation. And trying to
explain to people exactly how it works. It's like explaining
algorithmic chess or something. It is hard because you've got
these credits and these penalties. I mean, the short point
is basically the standard is too onerous. And that's after
we made some changes by the way, from the lart

(00:47):
so the last guy's introduced this labor introduced at twenty
twenty three. We made some changes in twenty four to
bring it into a line with Australia. Everyone thought that
would be working, it would be a sensible solution. It
didn't because the bottom was falling out of the EV
market and there are real supply constraints coming out of
Japan in particular, so the importers just can't get the
supply to bring them to the market, and when they
can bring them in, Keywis don't really want them at

(01:09):
the moment. So you've got all of these importers have
got massive amount of penalties. Eighty six percent are in
a penalty pit position and they just don't have the
supply to bring the credits in. So that will all
flow through to consumers on the first of January next
year unless we do something.

Speaker 1 (01:24):
But can you explain is there another market out there
where a government imposes themselves on a person who imports
a product that people don't want. I mean, what sort
of markets that.

Speaker 2 (01:34):
Well, most countries have a form of this, so not
a clean vehicle standard. Well, most countries don't do it
in the complicated way we do it. They just have
a you've got to meet various different fuel economy standards.
So that's partly what we want to do over the
next six months while we are going to do a
short term fix relieve pressure on people, and then we're
going to have a proper look at it. And the

(01:55):
actual industry supports it. This is the thing. So the
vehicle they used, vehicle guys and the clean the new
car people support having a standard. They just want it
to be a sensible one. So we just got to
figure out what that is.

Speaker 1 (02:05):
Have you figured it out in your mind? I mean,
because I can't figure it out. Because here's the problem.
I know when I want to buy as a car.
I'm the punter. I've got the money. I know when
I want to buy as a car. Right, So the
car I drive to work this morning's a V eight
and I like driving the V eight, and that's what
I do. So you can import what you want. I'm
going to buy what I want. And that's your conundrum,
isn't it.

Speaker 2 (02:25):
Yeah, And it's the next question is how much do
you care about the emissions of the V eight.

Speaker 1 (02:31):
Mike, not remote? How much do you couldn't?

Speaker 2 (02:33):
Well, fair enough, but the country's got obligations around it,
and you know we've got we've got to know over
time reduce emissions. But then you say, well, actually, we've
got an a missions trading scheme to do that. So
do you actually need a clean vehicle standard on top
of that, because you've already got the emissions trading scheme.
So when you fill your car up, you pay petrol
tax right when you pay, and you also pay quite

(02:53):
a high carbon charge. You probably don't actually you know,
you don't actually pay that at the pump, but you
are like because the price you pay is high, and
so you know, you say, what do you actually need
a separate mechanism? So we're just going to go through
all those conversations. There are good arguments for and against
each of them.

Speaker 1 (03:07):
Yes there are, what do you think? And I know
you gave the Russia example yesterday and they're the only
people without one, so you don't want to be aligned
with Russia? But is there anything actually just forget your
obsession with Paris and twenty fifty and all that stuff,
just for a moment, just as a libertarian, as a
free thinker, is there any reason why you wouldn't done
the whole thing completely and just let people get on
with life.

Speaker 2 (03:28):
I just lost you there, just say that again.

Speaker 1 (03:29):
Oh whatever, the old tricky question at the end of
the interview and your lost weight.

Speaker 2 (03:34):
I just lost your going around the going around the bays. Yeah,
I lost you at your obsession with Paris, which we're
not assessed with, by the way.

Speaker 1 (03:39):
But well, yeah, but what I'm saying, why wouldn't you
because was because Russia is the only one in the
world without one. So I get that part. But what's
to stop you just dropping it and making life simple
for everybody?

Speaker 2 (03:51):
Well, one practical complication is that there's a whole bunch
of people with penalties and some people with credits they
don't expire all to twenty twenty eight, and so they
are a property right right, you know, they sit on
people's balance sheets. So you're trying so unpicking that, well,
unpicking that is difficult. I'm not saying it's impossible. We're
just going to work our way through that. It's not impossible,
but you know, there's some complications to it. Having inherited

(04:13):
this dog of a scheme, we're now having to fix
it and that's what we're doing.

Speaker 1 (04:15):
Okay. I appreciate your time, Chris Buship. It's pretty you
didn't have a second tunnel to go through. I going
round the base for more from the mic, asking Breakfast.
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