16th May 2024, 6:50 PM – Senate New Vehicle Efficiency Standard Bill 2024 and another - Third Reading - Pass the bills

The majority voted in favour of a motion to agree with the remaining stages of the bills and so pass them in the Senate. In parliamentary jargon, they voted to read the bill for a third time. Because the House of Representatives have already agreed to the bills, they can now be made into law.

What do these bills do?

According to the bill digest (which is a document prepared by the parliamentary library), the key points of the bill are that:

• Australia is one of the only developed nations to not have a vehicle efficiency standard (also referred to as a fuel efficiency or vehicle carbon emissions standard). This is considered a major barrier to reducing carbon emissions from the transport sector and to the introduction of lower emissions internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles and electric vehicles.
• The New Vehicle Efficiency Standard Bill 2024 establishes a new vehicle efficiency standard (NVES) to regulate the carbon dioxide emissions of new passenger and light commercial vehicles. The standard is intended to commence on 1 January 2025, with compliance requirements to commence on 1 July 2025.
• The NVES is not a tax. It is a policy mechanism designed to incentivise the provision of passenger and light commercial vehicles with lower carbon emissions.
• The New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2024 amends the Clean Energy Regulator Act 2011 and Road Vehicle Standards Act 2018 to ensure the effective implementation of the NVES.
• There has been strong community and industry support for the introduction of a vehicle efficiency standard, as evidenced through submissions to the development of the National Electric Vehicle Strategy and a specific consultation on the development of the standard.
• However, some industry groups have been critical of key parameters of the proposed scheme, as outlined in the Consultation Impact Analysis, including the rate of decline, application to certain vehicles, availability of flexibility mechanisms, and potential penalties.
• This prompted the government to revise key design parameters, including concessions for large four-wheel-drive ICE vehicles.