Federal Labor says it will build a national electric vehicle (EV) charging network and make EVs cheaper and easier to buy if it wins the election.
The $39.3 million commitment, which the NRMA will match, will involve partnerships with state and local governments to install 117 charging stations across the national highway network.
This will enable people drive around Australia in an EV for the first time, Federal leader Anthony Albanese said at Labor’s campaign launch in Perth last Sunday.
Mr Albanese said a future Labor government will exempt many EVs from import tariffs and Fringe Benefits Tax to boost sales and expand the used car market.
He also committed a Labor government to working with the states and territories to invest up to $80 million to deliver up to 16 hydrogen refuelling stations on Australia’s busiest freight routes.
Among other promises, Labor will establish a National Housing Supply and Affordability Council to bring together state, territory and local governments to “encourage land release and cut red tape”.
Mr Albanese said fixing land supply and planning will improve housing affordability and boost economic growth.
“We need to work in partnership with governments at all levels …. local councils, state governments and the Commonwealth coming together – and working with the private sector – to put all the tools at our disposal to work.”
Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who isn’t expected to launch the Liberal Party’s campaign until a week before polling booths open, said last week that a re-elected Coalition government will invest an additional $20 million in the Recreational Fishing and Camping Facilities Program.
The program is administered by the state and territory governments and paid directly to local councils to enable them to extend boat ramps, jetties, cleaning stations, disability-accessible, toilet blocks and campground facility upgrades.
Mr Morrison said the $20 million commitment will deliver more than 100 new projects to coastal and regional communities.
The Coalition is also promising $35 million in new funding to expand the Innovative Models of Collaborative Care program across rural and regional areas from 1 January 2023.
The program is designed to attract, support and retain rural health professionals in the bush. Of the $35 million commitment, $15 million will be invested to expand the John Flynn Pre-vocational Doctor Program to more than 1,000 placements in rural Australia per year by 2026.
While in Adelaide this week, Mr Morrison said a re-elected Coalition government will provide $10 million to work in partnership with the City of Holdfast Bay Council to upgrade the western end of Jetty Road in Glenelg.
Mr Morrison was visiting the Holdfast Bay LGA to campaign on behalf of the Liberal candidate for the marginal seat of Boothby, Dr Rachel Swift.