Barnaby Joyce Transport Minister has rejected the idea of following in the footsteps of overseas countries that have banned the sales of new petrol-run cars, in favour of electric vehicles.
Despite Mr Joyce’s objections, Environment and Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg has strongly supported the prospect of electric vehicles.
In an opinion piece written for the Sydney Morning Herald, Mr Frydenberg said: “Australian surveys show that about half the people in the market for a new car are prepared to consider purchasing an electric vehicle with many investigating it”.
Mr Frydenberg said there were currently two million electric vehicles on the road around the world, but that Australia only owned 4000 of them.
A spokeswoman for Infrastructure and Transport Minister Barnaby Joyce said his government had “no plan to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars … Australia’s transport policies are modelled on Australia’s needs”.