Australia cuts green car funding in wake of floods
By Faye Sunderland
February 25, 2011 Australia has abolished plans to help develop greener cars and encourage consumer uptake of lower emission vehicles. Prime Minister Julia Gillard has announced that the country’s $1.3 billion Green Car Innovation Fund will be dropped along with the Cleaner Car Rebate Scheme as part of spending cuts to help finance rebuilding Australia’s flood-affected regions. Australia recently suffered its worst floods in more than thirty years, with large swaths of Queensland particularly badly affected. Preliminary estimates, following consultation with the Queensland Government, indicate that the Government will need to invest $5.6 billion in rebuilding flood-affected regions. Two-thirds of that funding will be delivered through spending cuts, the rest through an emergency tax levy. The country’s Cleaner Car Rebate Scheme worked much the same as the Scrappage Scheme in the UK or the Cash for Clunkers scheme in the US; consumers were granted AU$2,000 towards a new car in return for scrapping their 15 years-or older-model. It was designed to get old, dirty cars off the road, replacing them with cleaner and safer models while helping support Australia’s auto industry. The Green Car Innovation Fund provided financial assistance to companies involved in the design, develop and manufacture greener and alternative fuel cars and components in Australia. Announcing the closing of the fund Industry Minister Kim Carr reminded citizens; “The Green Car Innovation Fund is only one component of the New Car Plan for a Greener Future.” The New Car Plan is designed to support the introduction of new technologies into Australia including hybrid engines, electric vehicles, new fuel systems, lighter car bodies and batteries. The minister added: “We remain committed to ensuring Australian automotive manufacturers produce Australian made vehicles that are easier on the pocket and the environment.”
Australia cuts green car funding in wake of floods 
By Shane Green
February 26, 2011 THE nation’s car industry union has begun a strident campaign against the federal government’s contentious decision to scrap the green car fund to pay for flood reconstruction, accusing Canberra of ”abject betrayal”. The powerful Australian Manufacturing Workers Union has sent a letter of protest to federal Labor MPs, is campaigning in marginal seats and will soon launch press, TV and radio advertisements. In the letter, it says the decision to scrap the fund was bad policy and short-sighted, and argues for a temporary auto import tariff, which it says would raise money for flood reconstruction and help local car makers under pressure from the high Australian dollar.
”For the government to abolish the fund in the manner it has is an act of abject betrayal and has the potential to seriously erode future investment and job prospects of workers within the industry,” it wrote. ”We consider the policy an ill-conceived, knee-jerk response to the flood crisis that will do little to assist flood victims but much to damage vehicle workers.” The Rudd government set up the fund as part of its $6.2 billion car plan, unveiled at the depths of the financial crisis in late 2008, when the local car industry was on its knees. GM Holden secured $149 million to build a local version of the Cruze small car, which will be unveiled on Monday at its Elizabeth plant in South Australia. But the Gillard government scrapped the fund at the end of last month as part of cost-cutting measures to fund the Queensland and Victorian flood reconstruction, saving the government $234 million. …
I consider this to be largely good news. The Cleaner Car Rebate Scheme was a lemon. When embodied energy from car manufacturing is included, the "savings" from upgrading to a newer model are largely cancelled out. If you upgrade too often, then emissions actually increase.
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