Wednesday, 3 June 2026

 Tom McINTOSH (Eastern Victoria) (17:32): I rise to make a statement on a tabled report, Electricity Supply for Electric Vehicles. Worldwide, EVs are displacing internal combustion vehicles. This is apparent here, with EV sales surging in the last 12 months. Family cars, utes and freight vehicles are all electrifying, and this has accelerated since the Iran war. Electrification of our transport fleet will save our nation’s trade balance $40 billion to $50 billion per year, create jobs locally and deliver energy security for our economy. Findings and recommendations from the inquiry include that on average people only drive 30 kilometres a day and many EVs only need to be charged every 10 to 14 days. Sustained misinformation, often by politicians, means education is required to bust myths. EV travel for tourism is cheaper than petrol, and all levels of government and industry must work together to ensure charging infrastructure meets tourist demand in regional economies. Vehicle-to-grid connections can further strengthen our grid capacity and should be supported. EV heavy freight can enable night transportation of goods, and distributors must work to deliver timely connections with dedicated service teams.

It is disappointing that the Liberals and Nationals do not accept the commonsense findings in this inquiry’s report, talking down new technologies, as they have done for decades with solar and batteries. The minority report of theirs is riddled with errors, like stating that the legislated net zero target – in the opening paragraph – is 2050 when in fact it is 2045. I would hope they would stop talking our electrical infrastructure down. I encourage them to propose solutions and not peddle fear.