Labor’s car clunker open to rorts and waste
27th July, 2010
Federal Member for Wide Bay, Warren Truss, today warned that Julia Gillard’s ill-conceived ‘cash for clunkers’ scheme will be open to rorts, will distort the new and used car markets and will cost Australian jobs.Labor proposes to spend $394 million of taxpayers’ money to give $2000 hand-outs to people who trade-in vehicles built before 1995, on predominantly imported new vehicles.
The experience in the United States tells Australians that this type of program favours cheap imports, at the expense of locally manufactured cars.
“In typical Gillard style, this is a deeply flawed scheme. The Toyota Camry and Hybrid Camry the only eligible Australian-made vehicles, so the scheme will undermine Australian jobs,” Mr Truss said.
Today the South Australian state executive director of the Motor Trade Association, John Chapman, also warned that Labor’s program will “distort the market if people can go out and pick up an old bomb for a few hundred dollars and then trade it in for the $2,000 rebate”.
“The potential for rorting under this scheme shows that Labor has learned nothing from its disastrously mismanaged school hall program, the insulation mess, green loans scheme which has cost taxpayers $9 billion through waste and mismanagement.
Mr Truss said the scheme would do little to assist those it is supposed to benefit and will result in the price of cars being artificially inflated.
“Many people drive older cars because they are on tight budgets, so a $2,000 rebate will not put them in the position to borrow another $20,000 or more to upgrade their vehicles.
“This is one of the most ill-thought-out programs and will inevitably result in the Gillard Labor Government wasting tens-of-millions of taxpayer dollars,” Mr Truss said.
“The scheme is designed to boost Labor’s dubious green credentials, but the cost of projected CO2 abatement under the program would be astronomical.
“Under this program, Labor will be paying a staggering $394 per tonne of CO2 abatement, when the Government’s own discredited emissions trading scheme priced carbon at less than $30 per tonne,” Mr Truss said.
“Labor’s clunker car scheme was announced as a smokescreen to Labor’s much criticised ‘citizen’s assembly on climate change’ talkfest.
“Unlike Labor, the Liberal and National Parties are committed to taking real action to sustain and conserve Australia’s environment.”
