| The Governments of Germany, France and Brazil have introduced schemes to scrap older motor vehicles. A similar measure is before the Congress of the United States of America [The Cash for Klunkers Bill].
The concept is that the Government provides a subsidy to any consumer who has a motor vehicle, under a certain value, and is willing to have the vehicle “crushed”.
The idea would be that the Federal Government in Australia would provide a voucher for $3,000 to any consumer who has a car more than ten (10) years old and presents a certificate that the car has been put through a crusher at the business of a metal recycler. The voucher for $3,000 could only be used to off-set the purchase price of a new motor vehicle from a licensed motor dealer.
We believe that such a system introduced by the Government would have a threefold effect of:
- reducing pollution;
- revitalising the motor industry;
- and making Australian roads safer.
Many of the cars of which I speak were manufactured before the introduction of catalytic converters and those others have catalytic converters that are old and mostly ineffective. These units emit profuse amounts of pollution. In others the Many of these cars are far less safe on the roads than the modern motor vehicle. You might note that in Germany this type of scheme has resulted in a 10% increase in new motor vehicle sales.
This measure would have a very profound and beneficial effect on Australia’s motor dealerships and, as Australian Manufactured motor vehicles constitute a significant part of the Australian market, it would have a significant effect of manufacturing in Australia. The motor industry in Australia employs over 350,000 workers and such a stimulus would stem the tide of unemployment in our industry.
Our early studies indicate that there are about 15 million vehicles in Australia and about half of these are over 10 years old. Of that half there would be about 2 million that are valued at or below $3,000. When you subtract vintage cars kept by collectors and many families that won’t part with “grandad’s” old Holden there are only between 1 and 1.5 million cars that would qualify. This would mean, at the most, a total commitment by Government of about $4.5 billion over, say three years. The Government would get $1.5 billion back in GST and, of course, the preservation of jobs would mean many workers would have a wage [not the dole] and would be paying tax. |
