Cheap Rego For Small Cars

Sydney Morning Herald

Saturday August 16, 2008

Mark Davis Political Correspondent

CUTS to registration charges and state taxes will be considered to encourage motorists to buy fuel-efficient "green" cars under proposals presented to the Federal Government.

The former Victorian premier Steve Bracks yesterday unveiled a $3.5 billion plan to revitalise Australia's struggling car-manufacturing industry - and central to his vision is the need to go green at full throttle.

Mr Bracks wants to re-engineer the industry away from large family cars such as Commodores and Falcons towards smaller vehicles with innovative technology to cut fuel consumption and emissions.

His report also calls for the Government to double the $1000 cash rebate paid to motorists buying new cars factory-fitted with LPG units, saying these are cleaner than vehicles which are converted to run on LPG. These already attract a $2000 rebate.

It also recommends that the Government's planned Green Car Innovation Fund, which will deliver grants for car-makers to develop low-emission vehicles, should be doubled to $1 billion and accelerated to start next year.

Mr Bracks told the Herald that getting Australian-made low-emissions vehicles into domestic and export markets quickly was one of the most crucial issues for the future of the industry.

"There is no doubt consumer preferences have moved to smaller, more fuel-efficient cars," he said.

"The combination of a carbon price under emissions trading and grants for research, design and development can put us at the leading edge in being able to get a first-responder advantage in the market."

The states could play a role by encouraging motorists to go green through reforming registration fees and stamp duties on new cars.

"That is certainly one option which we would like to see considered," he said. "Harmonisation and, in some cases, reduction [of state charges] would encourage new car purchases ... which has fuel-efficiency outcomes."

Mr Bracks's report examines the cost of getting a new car onto the road in different states.

It shows that for a $30,000 four-cylinder passenger vehicle the combination of stamp duty, annual registration and number plate charges and compulsory third-party insurance comes to $1537 in NSW, slightly above the national average. In Victoria the figure is $1314. In Queensland, where there is a stamp duty discount for hybrid cars, the figure would come to $1050 for the new Camry hybrid which Toyota plans to build in Australia.

The Minister for Innovation and Industry, Kim Carr, said he wanted a sustainable, innovative car industry integrated into global markets and supply chains.

"We want to move to low-emission vehicles and we want to reduce the cost of cars," he said. "We want to take pressure off people's wallets and take pressure off the environment."

Senator Carr said the industry needed confidence about Government policy if it was to make large investment decisions to build new cars. The Government would consider Mr Bracks's plan in coming weeks.

The report recommends a planned cut in tariffs on imported cars in 2010 go ahead, disappointing car-makers and unions, which wanted the tariff frozen.

Australia's car-makers lost $450 million last year partly due to declining sales of large cars.

© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald

Back to News Index | Back to Home