Single Canberra mother of three Margaret Limn recently had to drop clients from her small cleaning business in order to spend more time looking after her family.
“Striking a balance between being somewhat financially comfortable or looking after my family is a no-brainer but it still makes things very tight,” she says.
She says that means her weekly income of $1,600, of which $750 is immediately taken out to pay her rent, has had to stretch.
“My two teenage boys are growing all the time so they take it in turns to see who needs shoes or clothes or things like that,” she says.
Margaret earns $1,600 per week, of which $750 immediately goes to rent.(Supplied: Margaret Limn)
Margaret says her kids know things are tight and sometimes volunteer to go without something new.
“If they need something, or I say they need something, they say ‘we don’t need it Mum’, which I find really sad.”
Although Margaret describes herself as environmentally conscious, she feels as though environmentally friendly measures are sometimes skewed towards those in a “higher tax bracket”.
“I do all the small things that — I can recycle and repurpose stuff as much as possible, and I try to find budget-friendly ways [to] help the environment,” she says.
“I think it’s becoming more accessible and less of a trend.”
‘Feels like they are trying to edge the poorer people out of town’
But Margaret says the recent announcement that the ACT will ban the sale of new petrol cars by 2035 has left her concerned, as electric vehicles are unattainable for her at their current price.
“With this [announcement] and the rental market in Canberra, it sort of feels like they are trying to edge the poorer people out of town, and realistically that doesn’t make any sense because who is going to do the cleaning?”
Margaret says she because she has no credit rating, getting financing for a car is not achievable.
The ACT government’s recently announced 2022-2030 Zero Emissions Vehicles (ZEV) Strategy also includes a “long-term” plan to overhaul how Canberrans will pay their car registration, with fees to be based on emissions rather than weight.
“It’s going to make it really hard for people who can’t afford an electric car, and it sounds like because of that reason they are going to be penalized for it,” she says.
“I find it really frustrating — people own their own homes so they have equity, they easily get loans if they need — [but] I basically have no credit rating and I imagine many other people in my situation or worse wouldn’t be able to get financing for a car.”
ZEVs unaffordable for low and moderate income earners, says ACOSS
Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) acting CEO, Edwina MacDonald, says that electric vehicles aren’t just out of reach and unaffordable for low-income earners but moderate-income earners as well.
Ms MacDonald says when considering policy like the ACT’s electric vehicle strategy, governments need to ask questions about how the legislation will affect broader equality in their states and territories.
ACOSS acting chief executive Edwina MacDonald says people on lower incomes could be penalized by charging registration based on emissions.(ABC News: Matt Roberts)
“We need policy addressing the impacts of climate change and also making sure we’re not increasing inequality but actually policy that will reduce inequality and poverty at the same time,” she says.
“Increasing registration based on emission while the costs of electric vehicles remains high, for example, will penalize people on low incomes who can’t afford electric vehicles.
“We urge governments to consult more widely and put people with the least at the center of policy design. If we get the policy settings right we can rapidly cut emissions and create a safer and fairer society.”
Government says EVs could be cheaper than petrol cars within the decade
ACT Emissions Reduction Minister Shane Rattenbury says the ACT government is committed to ensuring the transition to ZEVs is fair.
“It is vitally important that we make sure the transition to zero emissions transport is just, ensuring that everyone in our community, including people on low incomes, are not left behind,” he says.
“The ACT already has the most extensive financial incentives to reduce the cost barriers to purchasing a zero-emissions vehicle, including stamp duty waivers for new and second-hand electric vehicles, two years’ free registration and zero-interest loans of up to $15,000 through the Sustainable Household Scheme.”
ACT Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction Shane Rattenbury says the government expects ZEVs will be cheaper to produce than equivalent petrol or diesel vehicles by 2027.(ABC News: Nick Haggarty )
Mr Rattenbury says the cost of ZEVs will reduce significantly before 2035 as more second-hand electric vehicles become available on the market, possibly even seeing them become more affordable than petrol cars.
“The global vehicle market is changing rapidly. Electric vehicle prices have decreased substantially over recent years and continue to decline. According to market experts, electric vehicles will be cheaper to produce than equivalent internal combustion engine vehicles by 2027,” he says.
“So the good news is that Canberrans can expect to see electric vehicles become, on average, cheaper than equivalent petrol or diesel powered vehicles within the next decade.
“As more electric vehicles arrive on ACT roads, there will be greater availability of second hand electric vehicles. This will help make them more affordable and widely available to a greater number of Canberra households.”
But Margaret says she hopes the ACT government will find more ways to actively support those with lower incomes who are trying to do their part for the environment.
“If the government actually wants to help the environment then surely they’ll make it easier for people in less financially sound situations than others to own electric vehicles,” she says.
“I think it’s admirable that we’ve set this goal that we’re aiming for, but the reality for people on a lower income [is that] it’s just another thing that’s looming there in the future that’s going to bite us in the bum.”