Quote:
"The people who benefit will be higher-income earners who now don't have to pay as much for a Tesla. We don't think it's fair to make tradies pay more for a Hilux so wealthy executives can get a discount on their next electric car."
Act leader David Seymour also said the 'feebate' scheme amounted to "taxing the tradies to subsidise Teslas."
Under the scheme, somebody buying a $75,000 Tesla Model 3 EV would get a $8625 discount – although the higher-end Tesla and electric cars which cost more than $80,000 do not qualify for it.
A farmer buying a Toyota Hilux would be stung with a $2,900 fee.
Seymour said it amounted to a new tax on tradies, farmers and others who needed bigger vehicles for which there were limited or no electric vehicle options. He said that would include those with large families.
"The social justice wing of the Green Party should ask why the party is prepared to tax people who drive cheap, reliable cars, just so the well-off environmental wing can buy a Tesla."
He said drivers of petrol cars already effectively subsidised electric car drivers through petrol taxes, the emissions trading system tax, and road user charges.