It is the David and Goliath battle of the EV industry in Australia — if David was secretly backed by a giant twice the size of Goliath — and all eyes are on the High Court as the constitutional stoush unfolds this week.
EV drivers Christopher Vanderstock and Kathleen Davies, supported by the Commonwealth, are taking on the Victorian government about an EV road tax for kilometres travelled that they say is “unconstitutional”.
But in the Victorian government’s corner is every fellow state and territory jurisdiction in the country, with the chorus arguing that level of government has the right to impose the Zero and Low Emission Vehicle Distance-based Charge Act (ZLEV).
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Emma Elsworthy is Climate Editor at Crikey, SmartCompany, and The Mandarin, and writes daily morning newsletter the Worm. Before joining Crikey in 2021, Emma was a breaking news reporter in ABC’s Sydney newsroom, a journalist at BBC Australia, and a journalist in Fairfax Media’s regional network. She was part of a team awarded a Walkley for coverage of the 2019-2020 Black Summer bushfire crisis, and won the Australian Press Council prize in 2013.
