By Jo Nova
We elect an Australian government but get the EU rules
Just before Christmas the government quietly put out new emissions rules they know Australians won’t like. “Tis the season for dropping press release bombs.
Australia will adopt ‘Euro 6’ fuel standard by late 2025
Jacob Greber, The Australian Financial Review
Tough new petrol standards will be introduced at the end of 2025, potentially increasing the cost of fuel while expanding consumer access to leading-edge, mostly European, ultra-efficient vehicles.
By forcing Australians to buy expensive, unreliable cars prone to exploding, the government will stop families going on holidays, burn down a few homes, and keep friends from visiting each other, unless the nation of petrol-heads keep driving their old cars and Utes, Cuba style. For all this pain, the new rules will “slash 18 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions” which is equivalent to taking 280,000 imaginary cars off the road, or cutting 0.15% of annual emissions from China. i.e. nothing.
All Peter Dutton, the opposition leader in Australia needs to do to win the next election is to stand up for drivers in Australia.
Apparently Australians need to import more EU cars to save German industry or something:
…the government aims to spur greater imports of vehicles that car makers currently do not sell in Australia because the fuel is too dirty for their highly calibrated engines.
The press release reads like it was written by the EU aristocratic snobs, not the Australian Labor Party.
This is no place for an EV.
The government will force you to subsidize the EVs while pretending the manufacturers are doing it:
The trick in the new Command Economy is to make devious rules that force the market to come up with strange and expensive ways to satisfy communist rules.
The new rules mean cars and light commercial vehicles sold from December 2025 will need to meet so-called “Euro 6d noxious emissions standards”. Years in the making, they are separate to a push by the government to introduce a “fuel efficiency standard” that would force car makers to sell more EVs by imposing penalties on the sales of higher-emitting vehicles such as utes, SUVs and four-wheel-drives.
In other words, if the punters buy the cars they want, and not the cars the government wants, then the prices of the “limited” number of popular cars will rise. The penalties that will have to be imposed by the car makers are really subsidies in disguise. They will add thousands in costs to the popular cars so they can use the extra profits to sell the unpopular cars at discount prices.
The net result is that billionaires will keep buying whatever they want to buy, and if it’s an EV it will be subsidized by the workers, who will have to pay more for their own “higher emitting” cars that will still be able to drive as far as the outer suburbs, or God forbid, a country town.
This is a boilerplate policy that been copied from overseas. It’s a blueprint of the global billionaire class. It would mean newer smaller petrol cars will subsidize bigger EV’s, and as Craig Kelly says, put lives at risk on country roads. The small car passengers will be more likely to die in crashes with cows, trees and heavier EV’s. Momentum always wins. Or our children will only be able to drive cheap Chinese-EV’s.
Any EV will be a car that the government and insurance companies can track, shut down, or spy on. (Read those plans here).
By golly, politicians can smoothly lie:
Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Catherine King said the changes would save lives.
“The changes, along with fuel efficiency standards are part of delivering cleaner, cheaper-to-run cars and tackling transport costs for Australian families and businesses,” said Ms King.
Time Australians stood up and paid attention.
Those elected are not on our side,
And their contempt for us barely hide,
As the truth slowly dawns,
That these globalist pawns,
Are all to the doom cult allied.
— Ruairi
h/t to Ben Beatty and Craig Kelly
Boot Image by Tumisu from Pixabay
Roadkill in the Central Desert Highway | Both car photos by Jo either in the Great Victoria or the Gibson Desert.
If it comes down to the popularity of Albo vs the popularity of HiLux and Land Cruiser … then the ALP are toast.
Dutton doesn’t need to say a word … go buy a clunky third hand Land Cruiser diesel, kitted out for camping, and be seen driving around Australia waving to people out the window. Just have one policy on the website: you get to keep your car.
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“If it comes down to the popularity of Albo vs the popularity of HiLux and Land Cruiser … then the ALP are toast.”
Perhaps not. Australian drivers bought more than 80,000 electric cars between January and November, according to Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries figures and are predicted to buy more this coming year. The trend is definitely toward greater sales as major manufacturers are intending to increase the numbers of EVs imported into Australia
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In total Australians bought 1 million new cars in 2023. EV sales are barely 8%. These are still the “first responders” the luxury and novelty purchases. We know what happened in the EU, UK and US as sales tanked after the fans and novelty seekers stopped buying.
The total car fleet in Australia is 21 million cars, and as of three months ago the total EV fleet was 105,000.
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I hope the government succeeds Jo. I’ve just invested in a horse and buggy shop. I’ve also collateralized and bought a street cleaning business and a hay production farm.
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The virtue signalers will be unhappy with insurance and repair/maintenance costs and plummeting resale values.
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How many are government cars?
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That’s the killer point Brenda.
Chairman Xi’s Handsome Boy Australian Prime Minister (Albaneasy) makes sure his Canberra public servants drive their government provided EVs – whether they’re departmental vehicles provided to the senior public servants as part of their salary “package”, departmental pool vehicles or accessed by the rest of the drip-feeders via a novated-lease as part of a salary-sacrifice (tax dodge) entitlement. All paid for by the Australian tax-payer.
Handsome Boy loves this stuff. He was brought up in tax-payer provided public housing. He knows nothing else. He’s lived in tax-payer provided public housing most of his life.
And you know what? Yep. He’s still living in tax-payer provided public housing.
When they’re on the drip-feed it’s easier to extract a tooth than get them off.
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And not just ‘Government’.
Be sure that whatever your equivalent of the Great British Banjo Restringing Authority is – their Civil Serpents will also be on the taxpayers’ teat for EVs, exactly as Sceptical+Sam outlines.
And the completely separate, and equally important, British Banjo Tuning and Harmonics Board, too.
Auto
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…Australian drivers bought more than 80,000 electric cars between January and November…
Are we sure that these 80,000 cars were actually purchased by Australian drivers?
The UK experience appears to be that a majority of electric vehicle purchases involve either companies (favourable tax treatment) or state-run enterprises (virtue-signalling with your money). Private buyers are still overwhelmingly buying ICE (or self-charging hybrid) vehicles.
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A looming problem for the car leasing companies is the disposal of the battery cars that have reached their leasing life – 3 years or so many miles – in a market where the value of used battery cars is dropping already. It is no surprise that when government thinks it can meddle in things it turns into a complete disaster. As the UK faces a rise in energy costs next week, this is again due to the government’s flawed energy policy which sees gas used to generate electricity instead of the more stable priced coal leaving us at the mercy of the wholesale gas market. Also included in the rise is the cost of people who can’t afford the huge recent rise in energy costs being recouped by the suppliers from those who still can afford to pay – so far.
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‘Time Australians stood up and paid attention.’
Oh how I wish they would, but I doubt they will . .
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Most will never know about this policy unless the Coalition kicks up a stink. The lame stream media isn’t going to tell anyone.
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When will the worm turn?
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Hard for the ‘worm” to “turn” when it has been on the “hook” for decades.
However……………
It is going to be “interesting” watching these evil mongrels trying to “run” a government as the economy falls in a heap and the taxes dry up.
“Favourable loans” from our rice-propelled overlords, perhaps? “Global Implosion Watch” a great game for the whole “society”.
Just keep an eye on the desperados who are bringing this to a country very near you, and who, as the last wheels fall off, will then go all “white knight” to “rescue” the shattered peasantry; AT A VERY HIGH PRICE.
As Irma Bombeck said:
“Well may the grass be greener over the septic tank; but it is always greenest over the mass graves.”
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The trouble arises when we see how many in the LNP /Uniparty actually favour the ALP / Greens policies. I’m afraid the conservative views & those of Dutton will be nullified and the same policies will be sold to us using slightly different tactics by different salesmen with exactly the same objectives.
Dutton must go get some training from Trump on how to drain our own swamp.
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They want to make it harder if not impossible for the most needed vehicles in Australia to be sold . Good luck to the ALP and the GREENS they are dumber than I thought .
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The current Labor Goverment hates the people who elected them – working class Australians.
If Dutton plays his cards right and avoids pandering to Teal electorates there will be a mass defection of working class voters to the Coalition.
The Voice referendum confirmed just how out of touch the woke Albanese Goverment is with its traditional voters.
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The current Labor Government AND the voters of the only State or Territory that voted in favour of that referendum.
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The media never discuss the flip side of the Teal seats which are those old school suburban and regional industrial Labor seats that have been taken for granted for decades and should be the centre of campaigns like this focussed on the Greens influence and cost of living. The Coalition are are somewhat of a crossroads as to whether or not they go for the teal seats or forget them and change tack to the old Labor base.
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The Climate200 party masquerading as Independents MP for Wenworth Electorate in Sydney Eastern wealthy suburbs promised not to vote to ban the Land Rover 4WD because she realises many of the constituents like them very much (Mum’s Taxi).
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Andrew
I think the best way to win back Teal seats is to ignore them. Ironically these seats still contain huge numbers of conservatives. All the Libs need to do is address cost of living issues , energy, family values , migration and education. They lost the Teal seats not by adopting conservative values but by abandoning them. These seats are very influenced by peer pressure and it will be seen to be not so cool to support the left / greens / teals on issues like Israel, renewables v nuclear, and identity politics. In fact the trend setters are already shifting.
The Libs under Dutton just need to hold their nerve and aggressively oppose this crap and like the voice debate they are on the right side.
What will be interesting is whether the states will follow suit cause Labor can still inflict great harm if the states are ruled by them even if the Libs get in federally.
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Australia and NZ should have bought in Euro 6 standards years ago. We have been so long a dumping ground for inefficient polluting vehicles that can’t be sold elsewhere. Car manufacturers swap out better for cheaper engines to our market but still charge the same or higher vehicle prices in the expectation that consumers won’t notice.
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My 2000 Honda Accord Euro— 7 litres/100 km at 100 km/hr !!!! Not too bad for an inefficient polluting vehicle!!!!!!
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7 litres/100 km is appallingly bad for a mid-range car, most are around 5 l/100 km these days.
https://www.whichcar.com.au/news/most-fuel-efficient-cars-australia-petrol-diesel-hybrid
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I drive a six litre V8 Simon.
I hope that triggers you.
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Mr. M: Mr. Simon says AU is dumping ground for older ICE cars. If he is correct, he is so blind that he fails to see the most obvious point- it’s a sign of a poorly-run nation. Look at Cuba or any backward place, that’s what you see. The funny part is, on any other subject he’d want AU to be just like Cuba- here he objects. Go figure.
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The numbers you quote are for a hybrid, and Australians can easily buy a hybrid right now … they have been on sale here for many years.
Therefore you just negated your original point about Australia being a “dumping ground”.
New car buyers get no benefit whatsoever from Euro 6 regulations.
There are some excellent advantages of hybrids, but also disadvantages and buyers can make up their own mind on the issue. Largely it depends on where you live, and the type of driving you do, as well as cost of fuel vs cost of higher maintenance. Batteries don’t last forever.
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When one of our 15 year old diesel utes gives up the ghost in another 10 or 15 years, we’ll probably replace it with a hybrid Corolla or equivalent. The fuel savings should cover the small price premium in 5 or 6 years.
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Still running two 25 year old Landcruiser Utes, around 500,000 is each, still reliable and more than handy. Way to go, resale value way up there!
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My hybrid Camry, not quite as old as Destroyer’s Honda, gets around 7.2 l/100k but it does a LOT of cold running which blows such figures. [There is still an electronic version of a choke]
Are you suggesting we should scrap our good cars and buy new ones which may have dodgy efficiency figures anyway? Hardly kind to the environment.
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Only 7L /100km !
I can double that at 14L/100 km with my (flat) 4 cyl, and it is worth it.
Try harder.
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I can get numbers even higher than that with a turbo diesel … simply by getting stuck in traffic.
Can’t say I enjoy the experience. Podcasts tend to help.
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That’s odd. The 2023 utes still seem to use around 7l/100km.
https://www.whichcar.com.au/ute/best-utes/best-family-ute
https://www.whichcar.com.au/ute/best-utes/best-work-ute
From the article you linked
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No.
You are wrong.
I was recently given a brand new Toyota Camry Hybrid to drive. It was averaging 7 litres/100 km. That car is about as modern and “green” a mid-range car as you can get without going full toxic BEV.
My 23 year old diesel Land Rover, (300,000km), gets 10 litres per 100 km over a variety of terrain, i.e. less highway use. and it’s twice as heavy as the brand-new complex hybrid Camry.
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That’s 2000cc engine. I have a Toyota Aurion which has a 3500cc engine & it returns the same consumption . Around town the Aurion achieves under 10l / 100km which is the same as the wife’s 1.8l Holden Astra.
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My lovely old 1980 Triumph TR7 gets down below 7L/100Km on a run, not real shabby for 70s technology.
Whats more it doesn’t need a week at the dealers getting another warranty repair every 4 months like the ladies Peugeot.
They can keep their modern Euro junk, about time they started copping our Asians technology.
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You may believe, all German, as example, drive Euro 6 norm cars ? What BS !
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Complete nonsense Simon.
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My Isuzu MU-X diesel complies with Euro-5, I purchased it new in 2017 and the exhaust pipe, unlike my older diesel vehicles, is very clean and a finger wipe reveals close to zero coating.
There is no smoke trail when towing a caravan and overtaking other vehicles.
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Reading Simon’s ABC-reciting posts reminds me of this:
https://64.media.tumblr.com/70450840004fd26525a93b85bdeaedb9/6f0ffce29c5cf6dc-3e/s500x750/3bdf2b5e6fd880bb87520fae2861b65727b4b19a.gif
And about as likely.
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Australia’s vehicle fleet ranks 9th worst in terms of fuel efficiency.
https://www.cer-rec.gc.ca/en/data-analysis/energy-markets/market-snapshots/2019/market-snapshot-how-does-canada-rank-in-terms-vehicle-fuel-economy.html
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There are lies, damned lies and statistics.
Look at the size and population density of the countries with lower and higher fuel consumption figures.
Then there are the things which can’t be readily inferred. The average age of the fleet is usually the most important. It would be quite informative if Cuba was on the list.
Fuel type can have a large effect as well. Ethanol has a lower energy density than petrol or diesel, so ethanol blends increase fuel consumption. See https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/fossil-fuels-energy-content-d_1298.html
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p.s. They are 6 year old statistics as well.
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In Australia, there’s a lot of tax and middle-man handling charges built into the price of a new car. As a consequence … Australians hang onto old cars as long as possible.
Since Australia has no automotive industry, all cars and most car parts are imported … that doesn’t help either.
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Go tell it on mountain.
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What was your intended point here Simon?
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Sure Simon, in a mass produced world car manufacturing system, they make special inefficient motors and do special production runs for Australia. In your fevered imagination at least.
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Of course, different countries have different rules and regulations. Some even drive on the other side of the road 🙃
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If the country had a smart, no nonsense opposition party, the ALP would certainly be toast. Where are you Dutton?
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Australia has no effective opposition party. Liberal (fake conservatives) and Labor are just two factions of the one Uniparty.
The best that could possibly be said about the Liberals (if one was being generous) is that they are very, very slightly less bad than Labor.
The thinking community needs to vote for one or all of Australia’s conservative parties:
United Australia Party
Liberal Democrats
One Nation
It was the Liberals who introduced Australia to unreliables, banned nuclear power by law, are responsible for the censorship bill, who still believe in the anthropogenic global warming fraud and were largely responsible for covid mismanagement and banning of HCQ and Ivermectin under former WEF global strategist and “Health” Minister Greg Hunt (just to name a few disastrous Liberal policies).
The Liberals are nearly as destructive as Labor, in some cases more so. E.g. in the last Vicdanistan state election, Libs promised even more extreme “climate change” policies than the commies.
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“The thinking community needs to vote for one or all of Australia’s conservative parties:”
United Australia Party got 4.12% of the vote in the 2022 election
Liberal Democrats 1.73%
One Nation 4.96%
It seems the thinking community has not thought of any of these parties
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Or the thinking community is not very large
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Or the media, the Tech giants, search engines, financial houses, and both Labor and Liberal are devoted to silencing and tarring these alternatives.
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It’s one thing Aussies won’t do is vote outside the main framework. It makes them nervous because they don’t think about politics too deeply and they want things to be stable so they stick with what is.
We are just the nerds who go the library at lunch time. But the football player gets elected Captain.
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Never would have voted for anything other than Lib Nats, but after what they did about keeping promises (hah! Scomo, what a liar!), I became more adventurous, and stopped taking note of weasels who whine about ‘but Labor are even worse’. I don’t believe that any more.
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It still adds up to around 10percent.
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You forgot that Howard introduced the wind generator boondoggle that is costing tax payers billions. Otherwise, spot on.
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I didn’t forget that Paul. I said it was Libs who introduced unreliables.
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Don’t forget ( or forgive ) that Turdbull was part of the Howard government . His fingerprints are also all over the despicable Murray Darling water buy-back scheme which was designed to destroy irrigated farming in Australia . That bloke really did do an incredible amount of harm .
John Howard’s ” church ” really was a bit too ” broad ” . Peter Dutton would be wise to be cognizant of that .
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David
Just an update on Liberal Democrats who have officially changed their name to the Libertarian Party which provides no confusion as to where their party philosophies lie.
In the last federal election the removal of the nuclear ban was one of their key policies and at state level David Limbrick has been pushing to remove the ban in Victoria.
Any disaffected Liberal would find their suite of policies and principles very compelling. The overseas trend of Libertarians gaining influence in places like Argentina and New Zealand ( through ACT party) suggests that this trend will spread globally ( maybe even in Australia).
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Something Australian motorists need to understand is that many, if not most motoring organisations that are meant to represent motorist’s interests have, like most institutions, been infiltrated by anti-car activists from Left. These days organisations like RACV (VIC) and NRMA (NSW) absolutely do not support the best interests of the motorists.
It’s all part of Rudy Dutchske’s “long march through the institutions”.
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Agreed David, they’ve been infected with the woke mind virus that Elon Musk talks about. Also, they’re the groups that the government will claim they consulted with. A millennial ministerial advisor will say, “ Look, we did our public consultation, did a zoomie with both the RACV and NRMA, they thought it was a great idea”.
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NRMA Open Road Magazine has long been a sales brochure for EV.
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Indeed, the NRMA has gone all EV lovey dovey. I have written to them and told them to stop pushing EVs down my throat. They did not reply and I am a 50 year member. Bastards.
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I wrote to RACWA some years ago about its constant pushing of roof top solar PV – and the so-called “economic” benefits that flow to house-holds that have one installed. Was it on the take from some of the providers/installers?
I told them, should they apply the same methodology that their analyst uses to demonstrate the cost of running a motor vehicle they would quickly realize they’ve been misleading their membership. Oh! And, I also mentioned the ACCC.
I received a reply acknowledging receipt.
I haven’t seen an article along these lines since.
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I have the same experience complaining politely to NRMA about excessive EV exposure PeterPetrum
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So if the govt wants us to use less fuel in lighter more expensive cars and soon drive EVs instead of ICE cars, so how do we fund our country roads and repair them in a reasonable time?
Regional roads are in a mess as they waste tens of billions on city roads and their underground freeways or hasn’t anyone noticed the Vic govt’s disastrous and wasteful spending over the last 10 years?
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Once they get you into EVs there will be road user taxes imposed which will more than makeup for the initial subsidies. The Vic government tried to bring one in but failed constitutionally. It’s inevitable that the Feds will impose an EV tax that will collect at least as much as the revenue lost from excise duty. That’s what governments do.
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It’s even worse than we think.
The ultimate goal is to have all cars fully traceable, trackable and monitored by Big Brother 24/7.
And the cars no doubt will want to be controlled by Big Brother. If a “thought crime” is detected the car might lock you inside and deliver you to the nearest re-education or labour camp.
Also, don’t forget that they don’t want you traveling long distances either. Non-Elites will be expected to stay within the confines of a “15 Minute City”.
Here is an excerpt from a leaked letter from a whistleblower in the German insurance industry.
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On the topic of “thought crimes” and free speech.
The charges laid were allegedly in connection with the two men having a private conversation with a “like-minded passenger” on a train that was mostly empty, according to the TDF. The men were on their way to Calgary’s “1 Million March 4 Children,” part of Canada-wide demonstrations protesting gender ideology being taught in schools.
One of the men was handcuffed after exiting the Calgary C-Train and both were served with a November court summons by transit authorities. Charges have since been dropped but this is an indication of the direction of free speech is heading in the West.
https://link.theepochtimes.com/mkt_app/world/city-of-calgary-drops-charges-against-men-in-transit-bylaw-case-5531119?utm_medium=app&c=share_pos2&pid=iOS_app_share&utm_source=iOS_app_share
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..and that is why they want us out of private transport and into public conveyances, so the Karens can listen in to our conversations and have us arrested/censored at the next stop.
There is no free speech if there is more than the one person you are talking to.
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EVERYONE needs to understand that:
The process is the PUNISHMENT.
Once you are kicked into the “legal” meat-grinder, you are FOREVER flagged for endless “attitude adjustment”.
Orwell was a romantic optimist.
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I told one of my brothers that the goal is to end private ownership. He replied that the people would never stand for that. But when it comes down to the will of the people vs the will of the bureaucrats it seems the bureaucrats keep winning.
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Note in Australia COVID-19 State legislated Emergency Powers resulting in State Police and State Public Health based restrictions and lockdowns, vaccine mandates, interstate border closures and related quarantine detention laws and other impositions.
Australia is a democratic country offering freedom of speech and freedom of movement between States.
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Welcome to Cuba. We’ll have nothing but we’ll be happy.
Give it time EVs will never catch on with the masses.
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Our local car club has about 100 members and there are about 70 club registered vehicles (vehicles over 25 years old, many much older) I used to think we were just a bunch of crusty old car geeks, but maybe we are the vanguard of the emerging keep em running class
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At least in Cuba they get to drive old clunkers!
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It would appear that democracy is a thing of the past. If you believe that voting for either the red or blue faction of the uniparty will save you then I have a bridge somewhere in Sydney to sell you. Understand that legislation such as this was never raised as a discussion point in the last federal election nor was it ever intended to be despite the fact that it was certainly under consideration by the various factions in Canberra. Like the immigration fiasco amongst many others, you never got the chance to vote on the merits of these policies – they were never put to the people to allow them to decide what was in their best interests. And remember, bad legislation has a habit of remaining on the statute book whichever party wins government. Having been a paid up member of the Liberal party and standing as a candidate in the last state election in WA I can categorically tell you that they are all in on big government policies which will be the ruin of us all….
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Thank You Fookes,
Have you renounced your membership yet?
I joined the Liberal Party 5 years ago thinking I could help change their course as a member.
I gave up on that.
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Yes I have. Post election defeat I also believed I might be able to effect some change and became a member of several policy committees including energy and education. My experiences proved so frustrating I resigned my membership. The “active” members of the party are mostly young, inexperienced and hold typically socialist views on everything from net zero to the universally adopted DEI / ESG policies of most corporate Australian entities. In essence, we have a single party framework with 2 separate marketing departments. Most of us foolishly believe that one is different and diametrically opposed to the other when in truth neither serve the most basic interests of the people they were elected to represent. Going down the rabbit hole of who exactly pushes the various agendas which end up on the statute book (including the subject of this article) can lead to some very unsavoury characters and places. Convincing the average relatively ill informed / potentially low IQ / non English speaking voter to change the way they think about politics and how they might influence the future direction of this country has become virtually impossible. It is left to those of us who choose to educate ourselves via blogs such as Jo’s and David’s to become the angry and vociferous sections of society.
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“Most of us foolishly believe that one is different and diametrically opposed to the other when in truth neither serve the most basic interests of the people they were elected to represent. ”
Absolutely the basis of all democracies!! People are either too stupid to realise, too busy to care or too ignorant to worry about it affecting their lives… The voters deserve the Govt they get, good and hard!
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So proud of my local federal member- Catherine King. Isn’t she a beauty? ( sic) Before we get all LNP vs ALP parochial, was this some previous agreement the LNP signed us up for? So, similar to the proposed disinformation legislation. If so, Dutton really can’t say much.
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Say you have an ICE vehicle worth $10k. Or $20k. Or $50k. Then they legislated it’ use to death. You could always sell it. For…? What, no buyers? Anyone got a nice V8. I can give you $1 for it.
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I have already experienced that level of vehicle depreciation. Fortunately I purchased the AWD SUV new from a friend’s dealership at their purchase price because they were moving out of road vehicles and expanding their tractor business. Four years and 200,000 kms later no dealer would make me a trade-on offer and I ended up selling it for a fraction of the wholesale price I paid originally which was considerably less that the retail price.
The reason was that very few of that SUV had been sold here and it had a six speed manual transmission – I have since been told that the best anti-theft device now is manual transmission.
No doubt EVs with much less charge capacity than when new will suffer a similar fate.
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Didn’t we go down this road during the ‘70s oil crisis? All were selling their V8s for a song to buy Toyota Corallas. The loss on sale of the V8 would have paid for years of petrol at the higher consumption rate, but people were panicked by the ‘vibe’.
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After reading the first paragraph of this article posted by “The Australian “it appears as if they plan to phase out the cheaper unleaded petrol ( 90 ron ) . The majority of petrol vehicle’s run on this and a large proportion are owned by citizens who are under financial stress i think the government would be foolish to implement this proposal. A large voter backlash will ensure if they do.
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Fuel excise is already close to fifty per cent of pump price, plus GST.
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This is a ball faced lie, just like Albo and his $275 cheaper electricity “promise”. It’s a fact checkers dream…where are they?
I know – it doesn’t suit their narrative.
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AGAIN here’s the OECD and NON OECD co2 emissions since 1990, just check the data from the active graphs.
OECD emissions per year are zip difference but the NON OECD co2 emissions per year have SOARED since 1990.
All of their annual COP meetings have been total BS and FRAUD and achieved NOTHING to reduce co2 emissions and yet they continue to lie.
But they have WASTED TRILLIONS of $ for a guaranteed ZERO return and are now forcing the OECD countries to WASTE even more TRILLIONS of $ and further WRECK their environments as well?
https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/annual-co2-emissions-per-country?country=Non-OECD+%28GCP%29~OECD+%28GCP%29
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That fake conservative weasel John Howard, among many bad things he did such as the introduction of unreliables to this country and giving away much of our natural gas supply to the Chicomms at world’s cheapest prices, also introduced subsidies for ethanol subsidy harvesters for transport fuels.
Twenty years on, I believe these subsidies are still in place.
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After the Kyoto Agreement was signed in 1997 most UN member nation governments were convinced that lowering “greenhouse gas” emissions was necessary, the Howard Government signed that Agreement, the Rudd Labor Government later ratified the Agreement. However, Australia was one of the few member nations that signed to an emissions reduction target that not only achieved the target but exceeded it.
To reduce emissions the Howard Government stated that they did not intend to implement any measures that would damage the economy. Ethanol blended with petrol was one of many projects. Others included subsidising conversion to dual fuel LPG/ULP or LPG only. Even their renewable energy target of 3 per cent was not subsidised, the Renewable Energy Target of 33 per cent subsidised was Gillard Labor Government legislation later amended by the Abbott Government to under 30 per cent at the time when the Carbon tax was abolished and Renewable Energy Surcharge, both 10 per cent plus GST 10 per cent.
Ethanol blended petrol is of course still sold at service stations.
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What is this cheap fuel of which they speak?
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LPG was $0.89c per litre when I last filled up
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I wonder what we will do when that mandate is applied to dirty diesel fire trucks.
Fire Rescue NSW do 24 hr shifts with the same appliance.
Pumping water at a large fire for a few hrs or more is beyond a battery truck.
Maybe they can purchase 6 EV trucks to replace the one reliable diesel fire truck.
Logistically, management will need a “Green EV Fire Truck Support Team” to constantly relay and exchange them over our 24 hr shift.
But hey, we’d be creating green jobs and saving the planet wouldn’t we?
210
I think the answer for battery-powered fire trucks is to tow a combo diesel generator unit with diesel water pump.
110
Would the EV truck be up to that extra load? Be better to have a Diesel tow it.
I’ve a great photo of a US EV school bus being recharged by a big Caterpillar generator. Smirk!
50
What about dirty diesel-electric locomotives, the fleets are large in Australia.
40
TWENTY TWENTY-FOUR LABOUR OUT THE DOOR
200
Yes, but the Liberals aren’t much better.
Vote:
United Australia Party
Liberal Democrats
One Nation
191
And continue to dilution of votes and preference trickle down away from candidates with the highest number of primary votes that have favoured Labor Greens Teals.
53
The Australian system does not dilute votes as they go to preferences. Every vote stays at full strength, in the lower house at least. Upper house votes are more complicated.
https://electionlab.mit.edu/research/instant-runoff-voting
For a simple system, it’s amazingly difficult to explain it to people.
80
Our Westminster system of government with some US included is mostly UK based, in the UK there is no preference voting, first past the post wins.
Here and often the candidates who attract the most primary votes do not end up the winner.
20
Sounds a lot like letting the perfect get in way of the good
60
I can’t think of anything good about the Libs except them being very slightly less bad than Labor.
61
So how does not voting liberal help vote out labor which is truly awful?
You can preference your favourite “other”.
50
Those elected are not on our side,
And their contempt for us barely hide,
As the truth slowly dawns,
That these globalist pawns,
Are all to the doom cult allied.
240
The problem is that “they” (global elite) have been walking us towards the edge of the precipice for some time and almost nobody has steered away . Most of us do not believe that we can stop it as our “feeds” tell us that . Brainwashing and gaslighting by the media is now standard and anyone who points this out and gets traction is cancelled . Until accountability and rule of law is enforced nothing will change . Incentives have been reversed from favoring honesty and integrity to rewarding lies and cheating . Our politicians are a prime example.
220
That’s a neat wrap up of the problem.
80
Now someone is funding a research project into this new concept: ” Part of the focus will be on “conspirituality”, which is a term coined for the joining of new age spirituality and conspiracy theories. ”
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-12-30/new-age-conspiritualism-focus-of-new-australian-research/102698964
I guess that’ll produce peer reviewed papers which prove all dissenters to official assertions are either mad or criminal.
Cheers
Dave B
70
They use the term “wellness” six times which I hate.
You know anyone who talks about that is talking BS.
All the more so because when you Goolag “wellness meaning” without quotes Pfizer is the first answer.
https://www.pfizer.com/health-wellness/wellness/what-is-wellness
70
I Finally Got a Tesla and It Scares the Crap Out of Me
90
You did not elect this government, you were tricked into thinking you did. Has anyone heard of the 2 party/candidate preferred system? Does anyone know how it works? Of course not… and these are the people who actually voted.
40
So, what type of vehicles will –
– The Police drive
– The Fire Service with Fire Engines drive
– Search and Rescue drive
– The Ambulance Service drive
– Guv’ment Cars be driven by?
EVs or smaller vehicles? Give me a break
100
Commonwealth Cars Fleet are BMW ICEV and some armoured vehicles.
60
Anyone remember products like the Pogue carburettor, claiming amazing fuel efficiency? If only.
But today in the era of computer controlled engine management, all cars operate at Lambda 1, the optimum Stoichiometric ratio.
They’re already optimised for the most efficient fuel burning and exhaust processing via inbuilt systems, which is why engines have PCV and EGR valves and one or more CATs plus the EVAP system to name just 4, which addresses the vast majority of emissions.
It’s extremely hard to make improvements, hence the fraud by VW and Cummins.
Diesels can produce exhaust that is cleaner than the air you breathe now.
In the absence of some major breakthrough, tougher emissions laws will just cripple auto manufacturing and the economy, but then that’s the real objective anyway.
What about EV tyres that can need replacing in around 15,000km? Rubber disposal is a big enough problem now.
What about the imminent arrival of cheap (sub $10k) EV’s?
They won’t even be worth fixing, just buy another one.
More uneconomical-to-recycle toxic waste dumps, everywhere.
What green planet?
But none of this matters as it’s all years away, and bigger things are looming way way sooner.
60
Hybrids have made a major gain in efficiency, because they allow regenerative braking and optimize the load on the engine. That comes at a cost of greater weight and complexity, so in practice it depends on the road situation. In a long run freeway situation, most engines don’t have sufficient load to reach maximum efficiency … thus with a hybrid it can get away with cycling the engine and shut it off completely now and then. Having a few extra gears for freeway driving does almost the same thing.
All the other dongles: AdBlue, particle filters, exhaust recirculation, etc … end up increasing vehicle weight and reducing thermodynamic efficiency but they very slightly improve air quality. These things often work against each other … recirculation of exhaust can cool the burn and reduce NOx if used at exactly the right time, but it makes the particulates worse … burning hotter to clean out the particle filter makes the NOx worse.
Trying to tighten the screws on the requirements by running a dyno test is totally pointless, because it says nothing about real world driving and anyway it’s already a solved problem. NOx levels are already way lower than anyone can detect if they are standing on a property some reasonable distance from the road. There’s no value attempting to reduce them more.
70
Continuously variable valve timing via electronic valves and compression ignition petrol [or is that spark assisted?] promised in Mazda Skyactive engines have been on the table for a few years now. All the low fruit has been picked methinks.
I still believe car manufacturers fell for the siren song of EVs because there is a limit to the number of people who will buy a new ICE just for the gadgets. The style hardly changes even.
30
Yes Hanrahan, I reckon cars peaked in the late 90s/early 2000s, when the bodies didn’t rust, suspensions were sophisticated, ride and handling were both great and you could still drive a RWD without a computer trying to tell you what to do.
Since then they have become overly-complicated, give far less driver satisfaction and finding a manual RWD sporty car is almost impossible. They waste a tremendous amount of interior space just to look stupid on the outside, and as for a $2000 headlight replacement, its just madness!
10
Maurice Strong’s nightmarish panopticon prison-world is 97% complete: odd how an oil millionaire conspired with Mao’s Mob to ‘destroy the West’ to save the planet, along with Heinz Hissinger and Hussein Hobama and a horde of hell’s angels… strange bedfellows indeed.
Not sure if most EV drivers took the juke injection or if their ‘spatial awareness’ was always near-to-zero, but, none of them can park a vehicle to save themselves! Up on the kerb – bang; back-out of spot – bang; park on a white line, taking up 2 spots, then smugly sauntering off to the nearest cafe / salon / bank. Having never ‘keyed’ a posh car before, am seriously contemplating giving it a whirl… just for the sound of it: eeeeeek!
/sarc, for legal reasons
110
When you have one of these fully digital cars the Government wants you to drive, your car will be able to be remotely disabled by Big Brother….or a software update gone bad.
See picture at:
https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/update-not-successful-car-cannot-be-driven-ford-should-really-think-about-a-mobile-service.32314/
70
What happened to VicPol Highway Patrol trial with EV?
That was several years ago when the marked HP Patrol Vehicle was displayed and sales pitch claiming EV was the future.
60
I did a quick search on Police EV in Australia, not very popular and for very good reasons that are deterrents for most potential buyers and adding for buyers with no government tax-free status and taxpayer monies to spend the retail prices.
Quote
“The results were diverse, with only Victoria Police confirming that an EV is on the force as an active duty police vehicle. That car, a fully-electric Tesla Model X SUV, was acquired as part of a feasibility study that kicked off in 2019.
“This feasibility study remains ongoing and gives Victoria Police an insight into what functionality police vehicles require from electric vehicles,” a spokesperson for the department told Chasing Cars.
While the exact requirements of police cars are not normally disclosed to the public, Sergeant Raymond Murray from the Queensland Police Service said while they were always looking to introduce new technology, charging and range issues associated with EVs made it difficult at the current time.
“The nature of police work is you never know when an emergency is going to happen and you need to be ready to go,” he told Chasing Cars.
“Queensland is just huge and we need to be able to stop and get fuel wherever we need to.””
110
Which is the reason why I ordered a new British SUV last year, which was delivered only two months ago (!) This vehicle will last me ten years minimum and may see me to the end of my driving life. Albo can stick his EV up you know where.
151
During the 70’so diesel engines were promoted for their relatively good fuel economy and low down torque. But then came the EU and started to strangle the diesel engine. Euro 1 required catalytic converters, Euro 2 and Euro 3 were progressively more stringent allowable emission levels, but with Euro 4, the compression of diesel engines was reduced in order to lower temperature, and thereby NOx levels, which in turn resulted in lower power, less efficient fuel combustion and higher amounts of particulate matter in the exhaust. To counter this, exhaust gas recirculation (EGC) was introduced, which recirculates the dirty exhaust gases through the engine to burn the unburned fuel. This is hardly good for the engine.
Then came Euro 5, which set out to remove particulate matter, principally carbon, from the exhaust, using a diesel particulate filter (DPF) which filters out the carbon particles and periodically burns them. Unfortunately, this burning out of the DPF is done when the car is at highway speeds. What some poor drivers who used their diesels for short trips within the city only found, was that the filter filled up, and the ‘smarts’ in the vehicle put the car into limp mode. Some models were more prone to this than others, but a number of Toyota drivers successfully staged class action against Toyota to have these problems rectified. Then came Euro 6 which added selective catalytic reduction (SCR) to the engine, which through the injection of a urea solution (Add Blue), was able to remove a large portion of the remnant NOx. So what started out as a great power source for vehicles was progressively strangled by bureaucrats, at no demonstrable benefit ecologically.
This video gives a good explanation of what these add ons are doing to diesel engines: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzRR8BTVsyw
If logic prevails, then maybe Euro 7 will see the return of high compression diesels, without EGC and DPF, but an efficient SCR to remove those pesky NOx gases.
110
Very interesting that. Thank you.
20
Yeah, now and then you need to run it leaner and hotter than normal to clean the DPF. Going up a long hill does the job if you use low gear, let the revs pick up and the turbo kicks in. This of course burns extra fuel, and probably makes a bit more NOx than usual.
It’s actually the NOx that cleans the DPF … but yeah, the whole thing is rather useless. The DPF itself reduces engine efficiency by imposing back pressure.
40
The EV song
https://youtu.be/vSNnPouC0fU?si=KtJLR-HoxiAZci0w
Das gubermint should use that for an ad.😆
Let’s brainwash the kiddies too:
https://youtu.be/TYnhFGOszEU?feature=shared
30
Even Euro farm machinery imported into Australia has Euro emissions standards. Really necessary on a mate’s broad acre farm at Moree. He measures its area in square kilometers, not hectares.
30
One of my cousins runs his father’s farm. He bought a new tractor. It requires DEF additive. Utterly ridiculous. Causes major problems. Four or five months out of the year the DEF is frozen and then the tractor won’t run.
20
The diesel fuel in Australia is third world, BMW will not sell there diesels in Australia because the diesel fuel is so corrosive.
40
No 1 son was invited as team photographer to a 24 hr Bathurst. All the local diesels died. After the race they found out the European teams brought their own diesel.
40
Thanks so much for that!
30
https://www.carsguide.com.au/car-news/australias-fuel-is-among-the-dirtiest-in-the-world-and-were-not-doing-anything-about-it
Australia’s car fleet is running on some of the dirtiest, most emissions-intensive fuels in the world because we have no vehicle-emissions standards and no plans to do anything about it until at least 2027.
Australia’s average emissions-intensity for passenger vehicles is 45 per cent higher than Europe’s, largely because of the dirty fuel we use and the fact that we can’t import the most economical, modern engines as our petrol and diesel is not clean enough for them to run on.
Australia is one of only six countries in the OECD not to have any vehicle-emissions standards. Our fuel quality is also among the worst in the group, with a maximum of 150 parts per million (ppm) of sulphur for 91 octane regular unleaded, and up to 50 ppm for our 95 and 98 premium unleaded. Both of those standards were banned in Europe 10 years ago.
30
It’s a bit odd, considering that most of the Australian refineries have closed down and most of our fuel comes from Singapore, South Korea, Japan and China – https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-02-11/australia-loses-another-oil-refinery-risking-fuel-supply/13139648
60
“Australia’s car fleet is running on some of the dirtiest, most emissions-intensive fuels in the world”.. and you need to ask “So what?”
Lets look at total emissions per legislative area, ie countries, and see if Australia needs to worry. Lets look at emission concentrations per sqKm and see if Aussie needs to worry.. Its like banging on about the world releasing CO2 and our stupid Govt destroying our lifestyle when we are a carbon sink. Emissions per capita is NOT a problem in the world.
Even Australia’s total emissions are nowhere on the world scene, we should ignore all this emissions crap completely.
30
benzene in fuel
Chronic fuel exposures can lead to the development of cancer because many common fuels contain benzene. Benzene is a naturally occurring component of crude oil. It is a Group 1 carcinogen that targets the blood and bone marrow systems. Examples of other Group 1 carcinogens include asbestos, plutonium, and tobacco.
Crude oil is the largest natural source of benzene, with petrol in Australia now containing about 1% by volume of this aromatic hydrocarbon. Uses of benzene.
10
Do people who work in petrol stations or refineries die of cancer more than the average? I’ve looked for statistics on death by occupation, but they are hard to find.
Do butchers get animal diseases? Do electronic hardware mechanics die from lead in solder? What do car mechanics die of?
10
The standards for the storage tanks were changed around the same time that unleaded petrol was introduced. These reduce the amount of vapour which can be vented to the atmosphere.
Apparently quite a few RAAF ground crew have had health problems related to working in wing tanks.
The health inspections at the abattoirs and meat processing plants should prevent any diseases or parasites getting any further down the chain. The workers there are issued with PPE.
It was apparently the fumes in confined spaces which were a problem. That was more plumbers and people working on assembling electronics than electricians.
00
I’ve noticed a lot more mechanics wear the heavy black nitrile gloves … a decade ago they just wiped their hands on a rag.
Not sure if this is a fashion statement, or simply because the gloves are easy to get these days, or perhaps more worried about skin contact with modern lubricants. Most of the “*ene” chemicals can quickly go through skin: Benzene, Toluene, Xylene and Limonene, etc.
10
https://www.9news.com.au/national/eating-chicken-cancer-link-oxford-university-uk-study-health-news-australia-world/6944a0bd-20dc-44b9-9063-16db54cd2f7c
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20541185/
Cancer mortality in poultry slaughtering/processing plant workers belonging to a union pension fund
https://nutritionfacts.org/video/poultry-and-penis-cancer/
Poultry and Penis Cancer
10
p-hacking at its best
00
Aromatics (not just benzene) replaced tetra-ethyl lead as the method to increase the octane rating of petrol.
Sometimes the cure is just as bad as the disease.
20
That’s a shockingly dishonest article … yes Australia does have vehicle-emissions standards, it’s easy to look that up
No, there is no dirt in the fuel, that’s just a lie. You can look under a microscope, you won’t see any dirt.
What he is actually talking about is the Sulphur, which is a tiny amount at 50 mg per litre. That is to say that with typical driving you probably use less than 10L to go 100km and have burned half a gram of Sulphur over that 100km distance … about the size of a coffee bean. Can anyone smell Sulphur near a major road? I doubt it … the quantity is too low to be detectable.
Then he tries to make the false association that somehow lowering the Sulphur will make the engine run more efficiently … utter garbage, it does no such thing.
The Sulphur does very slightly contribute to engine wear … but although the Japanese have reduced their limit to 10 mg per litre, they don’t have some magic special engine that you can’t get in Australia. They sell exactly the same engines in Japan as Australia and the performance is precisely the same. A modern hatchback from any of the Japanese of Korean manufacturers will easily do a quarter of a million ks and if you get it serviced regularly the fuel consumption is not noticably worse than new.
I’ve seen Australian small cars get to 300 or even 350 thousand ks and the engine is still running fine. At that stage usually it’s electronic parts that fail … or after replacing the clutch once, it isn’t worth replacing it a second time … or a bit of rust around the place by the time the car is 20 years old.
Forcing the motorist to pay for ultra low Sulphur fuel is pointless … it’s trying to solve a problem that doesn’t exist and his whole story is bunk as he muddles together untelated concepts.
00
There might be a bit of a tradeoff.
The sulphur may lead to more sulphuric acid formation, which could lead to general engine wear.
Apparently high sulphur diesel has higher lubricity https://www.researchgate.net/publication/289007357_Understanding_Diesel_Lubricity
so low sulphur diesel needs to have lubricants added.
This may be an old mechanics’ tale, but older purely mechanical diesel fuel systems were supposed to suffer much more wear with low sulphur diesel than earlier high sulphur diesel. Common rail electromechanical systems supposedly fared better.
10
Australian cities are quite spread out. We do not have the problems that Europeans cities have. The problem with emissions standards is that the Euroloons won’t be happy with solving 99% of a problem.
Don’t get me started on the lead free solder fiasco where a recycling problem was turned into an energy intensive engineering problem at vast expense.
30
The New Blue Screen Of Death? “Your Vehicle Cannot Be Driven”
10
Well, I’ve just had a few days on the SA south coast with my son & family from Melbourne. (and all the rest of Melb it seems!) 1200Km each way from home, through the inland roads of West Wyalong, Hay, Balranald etc, where you can be without another car in sight for a few minutes but the roads are not deserted.
Never saw one Highway Patrol on either trip, and you can knock out 1200km in 12hours, including fuel stops, in a 1983 Corolla. Rain and headwinds going down, averaged 8L/100 as I had to be at the apartment before 5pm when the Desk closed and went home. Averaged 7.4 coming back, not quite the rush nor headwind, but still averaged 97kph, faster than usual and using more fuel.
Take the utes and the big SUVs off that road and it would have been empty. Never saw a Tesla until Victor Bay, then the damm things were everywhere… Like I said, most of Melbourne must have been there!
The future looks interesting!
50
It worked to beat the Shorten attempt…THE ALP IS COMING AFTER YOUR WEEKEND! NO 4WDs NO UTES. Albo worked out to shut up and say nothing about what their intentions were…now, we know!
40
Every member of the government should be forced to use EVs immediately. It does not matter if the taxpayer pays the whole cost, the point is that the politicians will live the life they want for everyone else.
They will be heavily fined if they use any other vehicle [per day], and any infractions will be permanently posted on a website.
Normally politicians do not suffer from the laws they impose. It may concentrate their minds if they DO suffer the consequences.
30
It is wonderful what can be acheived with laziness and complacency, compounded with the 2PP vote scam. Absolute wonders. Happy New Year.
00