Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull says current PM Scott Morrison’s lies aboout electric vehicles in the last election campaign “really hurt” the industry, but said the EV companies, including Tesla, should have stood up and “called bullshit” on the comments.
The 2019 election campaign, called just a few months after Morrison replaced Turnbull as leader of the Liberal Party and as prime minister, featured an extraordinary campaign where Liberal ministers, led by Morrison, Â sought to demonise EVs, claiming they would “ruin the weekend” and could not tow a boat.
“It was insane,” Turnbull said in an interview in the latest episode of The Driven podcast. “Morrison and the others were saying things about electric vehicles which they must have known to be complete rubbish.
“I mean, they’re not morons. They  knew it was rubbish. But they said it, and News Corp and other media dutifully amplified it. And it was just, it was just madness.
“I think that election did a huge amount of damage to the credibility of electric vehicles in Australia. It really hurt the industry and obviously from an environmental point of view.
“Really, the EVÂ industry and the EV companies, particularly Tesla, should have been coming out very loud and proud and just saying, ‘bullshit, we’re not telling you how to vote, ladies and gentlemen, but what the Prime Minister just said, is bullshit’.
“Just call it out … and put the facts on the table. I mean, obviously, you can’t just say bullshit and walk away, you’ve actually got to say why it’s bullshit.”
Listen to Giles Parkinson’s interview with Malcolm Turnbull here
The EV industry in Australia is now suffering. There was little interest in EVs until a year or two ago, and little interest from car makers to bring EVs to Australia, thanks to the attitude of the federal government and the lack of any supportive policies.
Now, despite a surge in demand for EVs from Australian consumers, wait times are extending into 2023 and many models are not available because car companies are sending their stock to countries with more welcoming policies, or where they must meet ever tightening emissions standards. Australia has no such standard.
Turnbull laments the fact that lies have become common currency in political debates, in Australia and around the world. He said he was a victim in the 2016 “Mediscare” campaign launched by Labor in the 2016 federal election, and former US president Donald Trump took it to another level.
It’s happened, because, unfortunately, it works.
“Scott is the marketing guy, right? I mean, he’s all tactics, doesn’t really have any policy objectives. He just wants to stay prime minister, just wants to keep winning elections. So it’s all about tactics. And he will do whatever works.”
Turnbull himself has been an admirer of EVs, ever since he visited the Tesla factory in Fremont, California, and enthused about the car at the time.
Until now, he has only pwned hybrids. However, his wife Lucy, the former Lord Mayor of Sydney and a company director, who has been driving a plug in hybrid, has put in an order for a Tesla Model 3, which is due in several months.
Turnbull himself, however, says he is happy to stick with hybrids until a high clearance EV arrives that is suitable for country dirt roads, and is good for driving to, and on, his farm in the upper Hunter Valley.
“To be honest, I don’t drive a lot. I drive very rarely in Sydney, and I almost invariably get public transport. Basically the only time I drive, apart from occasional trips in the city, is to go up to the Hunter.”
See also: Gas-led recovery policy is a dog, world must stop burning fossil fuels, Turnbull says.
Giles Parkinson is founder and editor of The Driven, and also edits and founded the Renew Economy and One Step Off The Grid web sites. He has been a journalist for nearly 40 years, is a former business and deputy editor of the Australian Financial Review, and owns a Tesla Model 3.