It was almost as if the last election campaign had never happened. Here was Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his colleagues enthusiastically spruiking next-generation technology vehicles: hybrid, bio-fuelled, hydrogen and, yes, electric cars.
Katie Allen, first-term Liberal MP and outspoken advocate for climate action, introduced her boss fresh off the plane from the Glasgow climate summit at Toyota’s Altona plant in Melbourne’s western suburbs.
“I know my constituents will be enthusiastically embracing electric vehicles,” the inner-city MP for the seat of Higgins said. “I myself have bought an electric vehicle. We need practical solutions to do the right thing for the planet.”
At the height of the 2019 campaign, when all except a few thought the government’s hopes of hanging on were gone, Morrison and his cabinet ministers felt they had no option but to lash out at electric cars and fuel efficiency standards in the hope it hit the mark.
And so electric cars, or at least Labor’s push towards 50 per cent of new sales being electric, became cannon fodder and were set to “end the weekend”.
But now Morrison is more than happy to embrace EVs on his journey towards net zero emissions by 2050. It has been quite the transformation, and it is hard not to be cynical. But the PM will still be fighting on his terms.
Having endured a nightmare overseas trip to a G20 leaders’ summit and United Nations climate talks in Glasgow, Morrison hit the streets of Malvern, in Allen’s seat of Higgins, rolling gnocchi in a local restaurant and sipping Melbourne’s finest coffee in a cafe around the corner. It might be at least six months until he heads to the polls but on Tuesday the switch was flicked to campaign mode.
Technology, not taxes – if you’re not sick of it already you will be by the next election. Morrison and his crew are set to repeat it from here to eternity. And there’s a new one: choices, not mandates. Expect that one to be trotted out ad nauseam too.
Having hardly sat behind the wheel of a car since becoming PM, Morrison gave the thumbs up as he took a Toyota Mirai – one of the world’s first hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles – for a lap at a decent clip.
Asked by journalists if his previous views on electric cars were “silly, shortsighted or just a lie?“, Morrison did what he does best: went full throttle at Labor and, in doing so, gave a new insight into how he will frame the next election.
“I still don’t think it was a good policy because Labor wants to tell everybody what to do,” he replied.
“They love telling people what to do, what cars to drive. I think Australians have had enough of governments telling them what to do, frankly. We’ve just been through two years of governments having to tell people what to do.”
When the PM reached the high street he was stopped by women, young and old, for a chat or quick selfie. He patted a curly-haired dog as a man in a Subaru yelled from High Street: “Onya Scotty.” Others, perhaps not fans, walked past with their eyes down. No-one was rude.
Then he took time out for a haircut. “He just had a pretty normal request,” says barber George Tsatas, who has been cutting Melburnians’ hair for more than 30 years. “Number 4 clippers and a trim on top.”
The pair talked about Tsatas’s business, which was forced to close for much of the past two years, and how glad he was that things are back to normal.
“It was a bit of a thrill, yeah,” Tsatas said. “It’s been a tough time for us and I was a little bit nervous I guess. But he was great and really interested in how we were getting on.”
A walk along the streets of Box Hill followed, where Morrison made spring rolls in a seat the Coalition must win to hold on to government. All concede privately that will be a challenge.
Buckle up in your EVs or petrol cars. We’re in for a long ride.
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