THE much-vaunted federal government reforms to vehicle import regulations, that the government claimed would “provide more choice and less red tape” for consumers, appear to be stalled and the likelihood of their successful implementation is in doubt.
The proposed reforms stem from a review of the Motor Vehicle Standards Act commenced in 2014 and announced in February this year.
It was mooted that individuals would be able to personally import a new car or motorbike, from countries with comparable standards to Australia’s, up to once every two years provided certain conditions were met. Included in these were requirements that the vehicle be no more than 12 months old and have less than 500km on the odometer.
Predictably, there has been a significant backlash against the proposed reforms from the car industry, which has not been shy in informing politicians from all sides about what they see as a dangerous and flawed proposal.
The Motor Vehicle Standards Act is administered by the federal department of infrastructure and regional development, and the proposed reforms are overseen from a government perspective by the minister for urban infrastructure Paul Fletcher.
SEAT Leon Cupra
GoAutoNews Premium put a series of questions to Mr Fletcher’s office asking whether the government’s policy had changed in this matter since the recent federal election, when they expected the necessary legislation to be drafted and be put before Parliament and, most importantly, whether they had done the numbers to determine whether any such reforms could successfully navigate a fractious Senate cross-bench.
The response to GoAutoNews Premium came in the form of a carefully worded statement attributed to a government spokesman.
“The government is in the process of developing the Bill to update the Motor Vehicle Standards Act, in line with the announcement made earlier this year, and as part of that is continuing to consult with industry and other stakeholders on many issues of detail,” it said.
“Once the drafting of the Bill is complete, the Bill will go to the Coalition party room. The minister has confirmed to me that the Bill will be coming to the party room, in line with the normal principle that a Bill must be approved by the party room before it can be introduced into the Parliament.”
Nissan Elgrand
Comment was also sought from shadow minister for infrastructure, transport, cities and regional development, Anthony Albanese.
“The government raised the issue of reform in this area many months ago but has failed to do anything, creating uncertainty in the industry over an issue that is of real public importance,” Mr Albanese said.
“The government has not produced the legislation, let alone argued the case for change.”
GoAutoNews Premium understands that many rural and regional Senators and MPs have been swayed by concerns over car dealer profitability and potential safety issues for consumers, with National party MPs said to be united against the changes.
There have for some time been reports that the parallel import reforms will be dumped.
Ford Focus ST Wagon
North Queensland Liberal MP Warren Entsch is on the record saying, “I think it is dead, that is my view. There are too many issues with it and too many risks both from a consumer and from a business point of view to take the gamble.
“I have raised this at the highest levels and I have been assured that it will go through the proper process and I welcome that opportunity.”
Given its ultra-thin majority in the lower house, it is highly likely that the government will seek to preserve internal unity by not tackling a divisive issue in its coalition party room when possible.
Wiser heads may also see little point expending political capital on legislation that is unlikely to be passed in the Senate.
Audi S3 three-door
There is plenty of wriggle room in the government’s statement on this issue and it seems that a face-saving reason to water down the reforms would be welcome.
Such reasons are traditionally devised by backbench committees who could do worse than to study research on global right-hand-drive (RHD) car pricing published by GoAuto Premium in May this year.
Using the Big Mac Index devised by authoritative international business magazine, The Economist, where the price of a Big Mac is used to show the true value of international exchange rates, it was found that Australia actually has the lowest RHD car prices in real terms. The only exceptions were when the federal government-imposed luxury car tax came into play.
While only the most wildly optimistic observers would expect any move to lower or abolish the anomaly that is the luxury car tax, there is every reason to believe that reforms to parallel vehicle imports will quietly fade away.
By Daniel Cotterill on 15th September 2016 Comment, Regulations Government, Parallel Imports
Paul Fletcher
THE much-vaunted federal government reforms to vehicle import regulations, that the government claimed would “provide more choice and less red tape” for consumers, appear to be stalled and the likelihood of their successful implementation is in doubt.
The proposed reforms stem from a review of the Motor Vehicle Standards Act commenced in 2014 and announced in February this year.
It was mooted that individuals would be able to personally import a new car or motorbike, from countries with comparable standards to Australia’s, up to once every two years provided certain conditions were met. Included in these were requirements that the vehicle be no more than 12 months old and have less than 500km on the odometer.
Predictably, there has been a significant backlash against the proposed reforms from the car industry, which has not been shy in informing politicians from all sides about what they see as a dangerous and flawed proposal.
The Motor Vehicle Standards Act is administered by the federal department of infrastructure and regional development, and the proposed reforms are overseen from a government perspective by the minister for urban infrastructure Paul Fletcher.
SEAT Leon Cupra
GoAutoNews Premium put a series of questions to Mr Fletcher’s office asking whether the government’s policy had changed in this matter since the recent federal election, when they expected the necessary legislation to be drafted and be put before Parliament and, most importantly, whether they had done the numbers to determine whether any such reforms could successfully navigate a fractious Senate cross-bench.
The response to GoAutoNews Premium came in the form of a carefully worded statement attributed to a government spokesman.
“The government is in the process of developing the Bill to update the Motor Vehicle Standards Act, in line with the announcement made earlier this year, and as part of that is continuing to consult with industry and other stakeholders on many issues of detail,” it said.
“Once the drafting of the Bill is complete, the Bill will go to the Coalition party room. The minister has confirmed to me that the Bill will be coming to the party room, in line with the normal principle that a Bill must be approved by the party room before it can be introduced into the Parliament.”
Nissan Elgrand
Comment was also sought from shadow minister for infrastructure, transport, cities and regional development, Anthony Albanese.
“The government raised the issue of reform in this area many months ago but has failed to do anything, creating uncertainty in the industry over an issue that is of real public importance,” Mr Albanese said.
“The government has not produced the legislation, let alone argued the case for change.”
GoAutoNews Premium understands that many rural and regional Senators and MPs have been swayed by concerns over car dealer profitability and potential safety issues for consumers, with National party MPs said to be united against the changes.
There have for some time been reports that the parallel import reforms will be dumped.
Ford Focus ST Wagon
North Queensland Liberal MP Warren Entsch is on the record saying, “I think it is dead, that is my view. There are too many issues with it and too many risks both from a consumer and from a business point of view to take the gamble.
“I have raised this at the highest levels and I have been assured that it will go through the proper process and I welcome that opportunity.”
Given its ultra-thin majority in the lower house, it is highly likely that the government will seek to preserve internal unity by not tackling a divisive issue in its coalition party room when possible.
Wiser heads may also see little point expending political capital on legislation that is unlikely to be passed in the Senate.
Audi S3 three-door
There is plenty of wriggle room in the government’s statement on this issue and it seems that a face-saving reason to water down the reforms would be welcome.
Such reasons are traditionally devised by backbench committees who could do worse than to study research on global right-hand-drive (RHD) car pricing published by GoAuto Premium in May this year.
Using the Big Mac Index devised by authoritative international business magazine, The Economist, where the price of a Big Mac is used to show the true value of international exchange rates, it was found that Australia actually has the lowest RHD car prices in real terms. The only exceptions were when the federal government-imposed luxury car tax came into play.
While only the most wildly optimistic observers would expect any move to lower or abolish the anomaly that is the luxury car tax, there is every reason to believe that reforms to parallel vehicle imports will quietly fade away.
Comment by Daniel Cotterill
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