Parliament has repealed the Clean Car Discount, labelled by National the “ute tax”, as it continues to sit in urgency in the lead-up to the Christmas break.
The law was brought in as a way of encouraging the uptake of lower-emissions vehicles like electrics and hybrids, by reducing their cost by up to $7015 when imported from overseas or purchased new from the dealer.
This was paid for by adding additional costs of up to $6900 on high-emissions vehicle imports, such as utility vehicles.
The National and ACT parties had campaigned on repealing the programme, saying it was unfair on some groups like farmers who had no viable low-emission alternative to utes, and was therefore adding to their costs.
The Land Transport (Clean Vehicle Discount Scheme Repeal) Amendment Bill was voted through its third reading with support from National, ACT, and NZ First. Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori were opposed.
The scheme is now due to end from 31 December, after receiving Royal Assent.
– Article sourced from Radio New Zealand
