Chalmers weighs up national road-user charges for EVs
Federal Labor knows it needs to implement a road-user charge, but it doesn't want to discourage the take-up of electric vehicles.
Almost six months after the High Court rejected Victoria’s plans for a levy on electric vehicles, Treasurer Jim Chalmers is considering how to impose a national road-user charge on EVs without undermining the government's objective of encouraging take-up.
There is a growing push from state governments and motorist groups for a distance-based charge, with the take-up in EVs set to blow a multi-billion-dollar hole in state and federal budgets over the coming decades because of the dwindling revenue from fuel excise.
The High Court found in October that Victoria lacked the constitutional power to tax EV drivers with a road-user charge, putting the responsibility squarely on the Commonwealth.
But at the federal level the Opposition has been front-running on the issue, with its transport spokeswoman Bridget McKenzie accusing the Albanese government of being “asleep at the wheel” following the High Court decision.
