Image Credit: Lucid Motors
Two Livingstone Shire councillors are racing to reverse their mayor’s cancellation of two electric vehicle chargers, as a deadline for $320,000 in funding looms next Friday.
The council made a surprise move on Thursday when mayor Adam Belot won a motion to halt a just-announced plan to install two chargers in Yeppoon, citing a now-debunked report by 7 News into Indonesian nickel mining that focused on its impact on EV batteries.
The motion passed 4-3, which pushed two of those in favour of having a local electric vehicle (EV) charger in the area to call for a speedy reversal.
Councillors Andrea Friend and Rhodes Watson are pushing for a special meeting on Thursday to overturn the motion, because the final date for deciding whether to use the $320,000 in state funding is the following day.
“If [that funding] falls over that means we are not going to have an electric vehicle charger anytime soon,” Friend told The Driven.
“We don’t have a spare $320,000 to install one.”
The council has been working for about eight years to secure funding and a charger company to install two chargers and has a potential partner, she says.
Just two and a half weeks ago the council said it would partner with a supplier to install the charger, with Belot and another councillor, who this week also voted against the plan, supporting the move.
The 7 News story which Belot cited in his motion to halt the program highlighted a badly polluting nickel factory in Indonesia, but then claimed the nickel from this site was used in EV batteries.
Those claims were roundly debunked by digital publication TechAU which found the nickel produced at that location wasn’t high quality enough to be used in batteries, and contacted a range of carmakers to uncover their supply chains – none said they used nickel from Indonesia.
When asked how the manufacture of EV batteries are relevant to the council’s plan to install chargers to cater to local residents and tourists, Belot told The Driven a reasonable person might say they’re linked.
“Recently people reached out to me raising concerns about potential environmental and social rights,” Belot said.
In a statement following the decision, he said state and federal governments must scrutinise battery making practices to ensure the country isn’t investing or supporting unethical practices.
“This is not a decision made lightly, and it does not mean Livingstone is opposed to EV adoption,” he said in the statement.
“It simply means we are choosing to wait until we can be confident that any infrastructure introduced is both ethical and economically sound for our community.”
The next step for the mayor is to write to Queensland premier David Crisafulli for confirmation that, as the ultimate funder, it is happy for the shire to install chargers serving EVs that may use batteries of unknown provenance.
“We will be seeking direction as to how to advocate to improve electric vehicle industry integrity to ensure we can see the continuation of electric vehicles rolling out into regional Queensland as one of the elements, or mixes of vehicle types, that will be part of the future,” he told The Driven.
During the council meeting on Thursday, a council employee noted that the funding, from the Queensland government’s Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Co-fund Scheme, has already gone through state processes that include human rights and and sustainability issues.
She also promised that through the procurement process they will be able to make sure the charger companies follow the letter of Australian laws around human rights and environmental issues.
Belot says each time the council has raised the topic of EV chargers, a number of constituents will reach out with strong, negative opinions on the subject.
But where Belot says his job is to listen to the people’s preference, Friend says it’s not the council’s job to dictate what people can drive.
“It’s not about the mining in Indonesia or anywhere else in the world, it’s about supplying to our local residents, and also tourists, the availability to charge their electric vehicles. It’s not up to local government to dictate who should buy an electric vehicle,” she said.
“This whole issue is being brought up in relation to ethics. I watched that expose, and I was appalled at the conditions local indigenous communities in Indonesia are living in. However, from what I understand there’s been no evidence to say that nickel has ever been used in any electric vehicles batteries.
“The facts are the Capricorn coast desperately needs an electrical vehicle charger.
“We have no control over what the general public chooses to purchase when they purchase electric vehicles.”
Rachel Williamson is a science and business journalist, who focuses on climate change-related health and environmental issues.
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1) This smells of Matt Canavan (he lives in Yeppoon).
2) I also hope the Yeppoon council stop all stainless steel purchases and instals (being a beach town) because all that low quality dirty nickel goes into making stainless steel, less the hypocrisy of this smells of an ulterior motive.
You may be right, some are thinking is he on a fossil fuel pay roll.
“Recently people reached out to me raising concerns about potential environmental and social rights,” Belot said........
Presumably the same people who stop Donald Trump in the street, crying and calling him "Sir".
Do they really believe the bullshit they spout?.......................
...........or worse still, do they expect US to believe it?
You know what else contains nickel, our coins. Our silver coins (5c - 50c) contain 25% nickel, while our gold coins contain 2% nickel.
Livingstone Council should be aware that Nickel is used primarily by the steel industry.
They should consider that 85% of Nickel is used in stainless steel, stronger steel, metal plating, electronics, electric motors as well as batteries including NiCD (in use since the 1899), phones, power tools, electric scooters, bikes, drones, etc.
The balance is mostly used in the USA and EU for batteries used in their energy networks and in EVs.
In Australia batteries for our energy network and EVs supplied to Australia from China are LiFePO3 batteries that have the least Nickel content. It is also important to know as newer EVs generally have the longest lifespan of 20 to 30 years including batteries and 8 to 10 year warranties. The LiFEPO3 batteries are also resistant to burning and have not been the cause of battery fires.
Livingstone council should also understand that some TV channels have political preferences and their desire to avoid new things. Obviously Councils should be aware it is their duty to ensure they are well informed before making decisions.
LiFePO4 (No such thing I can find called LiFePO3 used in above comment.)
Why doesn’t mayor Adam Belot do himself and everyone else a favour and look at factual statistics on premature deaths and ill health related directly to tail pipe emissions.
He might want to then ban all petrol and diesel cars from Yeppoon.
The Yeppoon council decision makes about as much sense as it would to ban laundry detergent because some clothing manufacturer somewhere uses child labour.
If it's a matter of ethics, so is the decision to continue to burn fossil fuels.
Morons the 7 news story was fabricated. The nickel in the mine shown was 2nd grade that is used to make stainless steel.
Seven West Media (7Plus et al) is owned by Seven Group Holdings. SGH owns 30% of Beach Energy and other oil & gas assets.
It would be fair to say that as the popularity of EV grows the demand for fossil fuels would decrease and that is not in the best for SGH Energy division. Spotlight segment on EVs was a deliberate attempt to harm the transition to EVs by deliberately spreading FUD and lies.
SGH owned by Kerry Stokes, a famous climate denier and funder of the Liberal Party...................
........and the guy who funded Ben Roberts-Smith car-crash defamation action.
Which gives you an idea of his ethics (or lack of)
I messaged Liam Bartletts instagram account, and thanked him for raising awareness of indigenous/ workers suffering. Then I asked him when he was going to do a similar article about the harm caused by fossil fuel extraction and burning. Still waiting for a reply.
Thanks Rachel, I live in Yeppoon, I and am a very pro-renewables and EV owner and know our Mayor. In fact I know all the councilors.
I was in the middle of writing an email to the mayor (Adam Belot) when I saw your post and have included a link to it it. Thank you. Thank you Giles as well.
Adam Belot (our Mayor), stood up before the local council election at Adani Coal mine saying how great they are, if he wants to talk about ethics, lets talk!
If Livingstone Shire doesn't want EV drivers to visit their locality and spend money in their towns I’m sure all EV drivers will be more than happy to spend their money elsewhere.