“The choice was hybrid or diesel. I wanted electric:” Three Queensland ministers now drive Teslas

There is much debate in industry circles about which state government in Australia is doing the most to encourage the uptake of electric vehicles. One data point that might be undisputed, however, is that Queensland leads the country in the uptake of EVs amongst its ministers.

Three Queensland state ministers – transport minister Mark Bailey, energy minister Mick de Brenni, and environment minister Meaghan Scanlon – all now drive Tesla Model 3s, having chosen them as part of their ministerial salary packages.

That puts them well ahead of other states. NSW Treasurer and energy minister Matt Kean has been driving a Model 3 for nearly two years, and three federal Labor MPs, including climate and energy spokesman Chris Bowen, have a Model 3, as does Federal Liberal MP Katie Allen.

But this is the first government to have three ministers in an EV, as far as we are aware. And according to Bailey, another two Labor MPs – Jen Howard (Tesla Model 3) and Joe Kelly (Hyundai Ioniq) – have bought EVs in a private capacity.

Bailey says he switched to an EV when the lease on his Toyota Camry hybrid to an end, and he thought that – as transport minister in a Labor government – it was time to go electric.

“My work car came up for changing probably about eight or nine or 10 months ago,” Bailey tells the latest episode of The Driven podcast.

“And you know, the current choice under the framework was another hybrid, a Camry Hybrid, or a diesel. And I just said, Well, I don’t want either. I’m the Minister of Transport, I want a zero emission vehicle.

“And we had this discussion internally about it. So the state government changed its policy to allow ministers to purchase zero emission vehicles.

“And happy to say I have a Tesla Model 3, and so does the energy minister and so does the environment minister because we all want to be personally consistent with the values that we have about acting on climate change and reducing emissions.”

And Bailey loves driving it. “It is fantastic because it’s got a low center of gravity and plenty of power. I couldn’t speak more highly of it. I love driving it, I have to say.”

It’s ironic that the three ministers picked up Model 3s, because just last week the Queensland government followed other states in introducing $3,000 rebates for new EVs, but set their cut off some $10,000 below other states, which means that the Model 3 does not qualify.

“We made the judgment that we don’t think that they need a subsidy, but the the models that are a bit cheaper probably do,” Bailey says.

“And, you know, the cheaper the models that that move more quickly because of the subsidy, the more affordable I’ll be in 18 months time two years time when people maybe sell them and other people buy them secondhand.”

Please listen to the podcast to hear Bailey’s views on the pace of the EV transition, the federal policy failure, vehicle to grid, the prospect for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, the roll out of EV charging stations, and the debate over the EV road tax.