Labour’s car tax will not only force some car buyers to pay thousands more, it will have a near-zero impact on emissions as well, National’s Transport spokesperson Chris Bishop says.
“Ministerial advice released under the Official Information Act shows Treasury understands what Julie Anne Genter seemingly does not – that her Government’s car tax is bad policy.
“Treasury warned the Government that implementing a car feebate would create a ‘double burden’ for those needing to buy higher-emitting vehicles, such as double-cab utes, while creating a ‘double benefit’ for those able to buy low-emission and electric vehicles.
“National could see from the outset that it wasn’t fair to make families pay thousands more for a used seven-seater van while wealthy executives got discounts on a Tesla Model 3 or BMW i3.
“We warned the Associate Transport Minster – and it turns out Treasury did as well – but she didn’t listen and pushed ahead with plans to foist her tax on New Zealanders anyway.
“Treasury also revealed Genter’s plan would reduce emissions by just 0.09 per cent over 20 years. It’s not worth forcing New Zealanders to pay up to $3000 more for some vehicles just to reduce emissions by such a miniscule amount.
“New Zealanders can’t trust the Labour-led Government on tax, nor can it trust the Greens on transport because all they want to do is ban cars and punish Kiwis for driving.
“Julie Anne Genter has already dismissed Treasury’s advice as ‘wrong’. That’s the kind of Ministerial arrogance New Zealanders can do without when it comes to the economy.
“National believes financial incentives, not penalties, are the best way to support this country’s shift to electric vehicles. Policies introduced by the last Government saw the number of EVs on our roads jump from 1406 in May 2016 to 14,867 in June 2019 as we pushed towards our goal of having 64,000 EVs in the country by 2021.”
