❓ Mr. Love questions the Minister for Transport about the WA EV tax following the High Court's ruling against Victoria's EV tax and the potential impact on road funding. The Minister advocates for a nationally consistent approach to EV taxation and funding.
AnsweredQoN 784Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
ELECTRIC VEHICLE excise — HIGH COURT RULING
784. Mr R.S. LOVE to the Minister for Transport:
I refer to the High Court's
determination that Victoria's state-imposed electric vehicle tax is
unconstitutional and I note the Western Australian Labor government's
previously announced EV tax, based on the Victorian model, which is slated to
come into effect in 2027.
(1) Will the
minister seek advice to determine whether she needs to scrap the electric
vehicle excise proposed for this state?
(2) What plans
does the minister have to address any decrease in the flow of future road
funding to the state from the commonwealth government due to the increasing use
of electric vehicles?
784. Mr R.S. LOVE to the Minister for Transport:
I refer to the High Court's
determination that Victoria's state-imposed electric vehicle tax is
unconstitutional and I note the Western Australian Labor government's
previously announced EV tax, based on the Victorian model, which is slated to
come into effect in 2027.
(1) Will the
minister seek advice to determine whether she needs to scrap the electric
vehicle excise proposed for this state?
(2) What plans
does the minister have to address any decrease in the flow of future road
funding to the state from the commonwealth government due to the increasing use
of electric vehicles?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) As part of our strategy to support electric
vehicle usage, we introduced subsidies to encourage the purchase of EVs
in this state. Of course, there has been extraordinary demand for EVs across
the world, so there is a bit of a supply issue for the state. Anyone who has
ever tried to buy one will understand that there are supply issues. But our overall strategy includes subsidies to encourage
people to use EVs and the installation and rollout of EV charging across
the state, which the Minister for Energy and the Minister for Climate Action
are in charge of. Another issue is making sure that there will be a revenue
stream in future to support road construction and maintenance.
The
plan was to have a model similar to that in Victoria to start in 2027. Of
course, the recent High Court decision means that every state and territory
will be re-looking at how they will analyse this issue in the future. We have
always said—this is my personal opinion—that there should be a nationally
consistent approach to this issue. We
do not want every state doing different things and then, in 20 years'
time, some sort of government review will say, ''We should have a standardised
system.'' In my view, we should at the very start have all the states
and territories under commonwealth leadership and a consistent regime. For
states where the borders are very close to each other, having different systems
across the country makes no sense to me. The government's opinion is
that there should be a consistent national approach. We will continue to have
discussions at the federal level on how we approach this. With regard to
commonwealth funding for roads, that will have a big impact because the levy
will be reduced in future years. That is why we believe it should be an issue
that the commonwealth government takes up, and that there should be a nationally
consistent approach.
vehicle usage, we introduced subsidies to encourage the purchase of EVs
in this state. Of course, there has been extraordinary demand for EVs across
the world, so there is a bit of a supply issue for the state. Anyone who has
ever tried to buy one will understand that there are supply issues. But our overall strategy includes subsidies to encourage
people to use EVs and the installation and rollout of EV charging across
the state, which the Minister for Energy and the Minister for Climate Action
are in charge of. Another issue is making sure that there will be a revenue
stream in future to support road construction and maintenance.
The
plan was to have a model similar to that in Victoria to start in 2027. Of
course, the recent High Court decision means that every state and territory
will be re-looking at how they will analyse this issue in the future. We have
always said—this is my personal opinion—that there should be a nationally
consistent approach to this issue. We
do not want every state doing different things and then, in 20 years'
time, some sort of government review will say, ''We should have a standardised
system.'' In my view, we should at the very start have all the states
and territories under commonwealth leadership and a consistent regime. For
states where the borders are very close to each other, having different systems
across the country makes no sense to me. The government's opinion is
that there should be a consistent national approach. We will continue to have
discussions at the federal level on how we approach this. With regard to
commonwealth funding for roads, that will have a big impact because the levy
will be reduced in future years. That is why we believe it should be an issue
that the commonwealth government takes up, and that there should be a nationally
consistent approach.
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