[Greens-Media] Greens say Bracks Review a spanner in works of Luxury Car Tax

[Hollo, Tim (Sen C. Milne)]

Greens say Bracks Review a spanner in works of Luxury Car Tax

Canberra, Friday 15 August 2008  Greening Australia's car fleet to
reduce emissions, and rebuilding our manufacturing sector, should be the
focus of the Rudd Government's private vehicles policy, Australian
Greens climate change spokesperson, Senator Christine Milne, said today.

The Greens welcome the Bracks Review's recommendations to bring forward
and double the Green Car Fund and to include road transport in the
emissions trading scheme. However, these policies must be complemented
by mandatory vehicle fuel efficiency standards, to which any car
industry subsidies, including the Global Automotive Transition Scheme,
must be tied.

Senator Milne said, "One of the Rudd Government's pillars of climate
policy is to assist the global effort to reduce emissions. How would
that be helped by selling more polluting V8s to the Gulf States, ASEAN
and South Africa?

"The Greens have long argued that Australian car manufacturing cannot be
globally competitive if it continues to build large gas guzzlers when
consumers worldwide are choosing smaller, fuel efficient vehicles in the
face of peak oil and climate change.

"If the Government is serious about a whole-of-government approach to
climate change and reducing emissions, they must consider the Bracks Car
Review, the Henry Taxation Review and the Carbon Pollution Reduction
Scheme together, instead of pretending that each of these issues can be
dealt with in isolation.

"The Luxury Car Tax is scheduled to come before the Senate in only a few
days, before the Government responds to the Bracks Review, before the
Henry Taxation Review is even completed, and well before a national cap
on emissions is set.

"If all these issues were considered together, the Government would
realise that the better approach would be to tax cars based on their
fuel efficiency and deal with equity issues through the income tax
system and by providing mass transit options to those struggling with
long commutes.

"One significant failure of the Bracks Review is to tinker with the
Fringe Benefits Tax concession which encourages private car use, instead
of scrapping it altogether.

"The Government must not forget that providing fast and convenient
alternatives to private car travel is the main game in the face of peak
oil and climate change. Helping Australians to drive less, but when they
do drive, to drive more efficiently in an Australian-made car, should be
where the Government is headed."


Tim Hollo
Media and Communications Adviser
Senator Christine Milne
+61 (0)2 6277 3063
+61 (0) 437 587 562
www.christinemilne.org.au

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