Here are the automotive issues of the 2019 Federal Election

If you’re anything like us, you’ll have grown bored of all the Federal Election talk months ago. But the fact remains; there are some very contentious issues on the table regarding cars.

We’ve kept abreast of everything car-related that’s been a talking point in the lead-up to tomorrow’s vote, so if you need a refresher on where the parties stand, read on:

First of all we discussed Labor’s 2030 EV policy and the fact that while it’s a step in the right direction (and certainly goes a lot further than their Liberal counterparts), there are elements of it that may seem overly optimistic.

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And speaking of EVS, David Bonnici compiled an excellent round-up of all the current frequently asked questions surrounding electric vehicles, clearing the air of all the errors and mis-truths that have been spouted by politicians by politicians of both sides.

Scott Morrison caught headlines by claiming EVs will kill 4WDing. Continuing by saying opposition leader Bill Shorten wants to ‘force Australians out of 4WDs’, then erroneously claiming that EVs aren’t capable of towing a trailer or be able to get a family to their favourite camping spot.

Labor then proposed to pump millions into our fledgling local electric vehicle manufacturing industry, insisting that we could restart Australian manufacturing by focusing on electric car development and lithium-ion battery production, utilising the country’s vast reserves of the rare mineral.

Bill Shorten and Scott Morrison then locked horns in a televised debate over electric cars, with Cameron Kirby fact-checking the claims made by both party heads.

Big news broke when the Labor party furthered its proposal to restart local car manufacturing, announcing that they’ll allocate $57 million to the cause. It was suggested that if elected, Labor would use the money to fund a research and development initiative to develop an electric car industry in Australia.

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This was also spoken about at length with Andy Enright and Scott Newman in the WhichCar Weekly podcast too.

And following the announcement of Labor’s $57 million plan to relaunch Aussie manufacturing, Cameron Kirby took a closer look at the details of the plan – saying the plan remains far-fetched.

Lastly, Alex Rae and Tony O’Kane delved deep into the campaign policies of every party contesting the election, filtered out those with car-related platforms and summarised them all in Wheels’ handy guide to 2019’s Automotive election promises. Want to know who is actually promising what without having to endure any political spin? Make sure you read it before you cast your vote.