$1.1 BILLION FOR LABOR’S CRASH DUMMY
12-July-2010
Labor must follow the Coalition’s lead and cut further money from its wasteful Green Car Innovation Fund, after revelations that there is poor demand from car buyers for Toyota’s Hybrid Camry.
It has been reported that sales of the locally-built hybrid (the first vehicle to be subsidised under Labor’s $1.1 billion scheme) are not close to meeting forecasts. Despite predictions of 10,000 sales in 2010, there were less than 3,000 to the end of June – and, of those, just 657 were to private buyers.
These figures come after Federal Labor combined with the Victorian Government to appropriate $70 million of taxpayers’ money to subsidise construction of the car – money that Toyota itself conceded wasn’t needed.
“Amid a string of overblown claims, Industry Minister Kim Carr originally claimed there had ‘never been a plan more important to car making’ than the one his Government devised,” said Sophie Mirabella, Shadow Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research.
“He also said that schemes like the Green Car Innovation Fund were ‘the future of Australian motoring’.
“But the future is clearly looking bleak if the best Labor can do is come up with a scheme that has so far cost taxpayers a whopping $53,272 (and Victorians double that at $106,544) for each private purchase of the Hybrid Camry.
“Labor all but acknowledged the serious flaws in the program with a cut in this year’s Budget, but needs to join with the Coalition in committing to further reductions.
“The Australian automotive industry has received bipartisan support from Governments over many decades – but the seemingly open-ended and poorly targeted spending that is currently at the heart of this program is unacceptable.
“Mr Carr has regrettably spent much of his time as a Minister scaremongering and spreading misinformation about the Coalition’s past and present policies, particularly on manufacturing.
“It’s unfortunate for Australian taxpayers that he hasn’t devoted nearly the same amount of energy to evaluating his own policies.
“Otherwise, he would have taken action to stop yet another poorly designed Labor program that continues this Government’s reckless spending.”