Australia's Green Car Investment Fund A Disaster

Australia is rapidly falling behind the world when it comes to green cars. A look at recent changes in the Australian Government promises made before getting elected continue to be shredded down to nearly nothing. At a time where other countries are subsidising the production and car service for green cars, Australia is turning into a back water. Here is a look at some of the recent changes

·         Drastic Cuts. Industry leaders are calling for the government to re-consider cuts – probably in vain. We have already seen cuts, and changes in the system to get the funding that made near impossible for all but the biggest manufacturers to get any of the benefits. Because the commonwealth coffers are taking a hit due to recent flooding, a huge bite has been taken out of what little was remaining of the GCIF (Green Car Investment Fund). A massive 429 million dollars has been syphoned off.

·         Cash for Clunkers, Clunked. Unlike many other modern and developed economies that are encouraging their people to buy new cars and get those older models off the road, the Australian Government has practically scrapped the scheme in Australia before it got across the starting line. It was going to offer each purchaser of newer greener cars a bonus of 2000 dollars. For many people that will mean the extra cost of running their vehicle and car repair will be something they cannot avoid. Let alone the continued damage these older models do to our environment.

·         LPG Out Of Gas. A massive 96 million dollars was taken from the fund designed to help car owners to convert their car to LPG (liquid petroleum gas) in the form of a cap, limiting the amount of assistance to 25,000 cars per year. LPG is an excellent option in both the terms of reducing the cost of running a car and the damage that it creates to the environment. Cost saving can be radical.

·         More Government Rhetoric.Again we hear the Australian Government stating that it is committed to the automotive and more greener industries despite these recent and other changes in the last couple of years. The GCIF had already been slashed by the government in the run up to the last year’s federal election on the grounds that it had attracted fewer applicants than expected. Those in the know will let you know, that the terms of application are so limiting and constricted and this is what is the cause of that.

In a country where owning and driving a car is essential for so many people, it makes you wonder about the thoughts and considerations of our politicians. If you are in a rural area, you are completely stuck without a car. There is just no option of public transport. With so many Australians living in rural areas and so much of Australia’s economy relying on that, and the wide use of vehicles in those businesses, you would think that greening Australia’s car use would be an absolute priority.