In Australia, the Federal Government has formally joined a legal bid to strike down Victoria’s controversial electric vehicle tax. According to a report in The Age, federal Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus filed an intervention in the High Court, supporting two Victorian motorists reportedly seeking to have the state’s EV levy ruled unconstitutional.

The controversial electric vehicle tax itself levies a charge for electric vehicles to pay per kilometre driven. The idea is to have all motorists pay for road maintenance, as Australia traditionally took these funds from gasoline sales tax. The two mentioned Victorian motorists took to the courts to fight the decision on the grounds that it is unconstitutional in October last year.

This decision will likely settle how Australian road taxes are levied in future. “The Commonwealth government would like to work with Victoria, and with the other states and territories, on policy relating to electric vehicles,” a spokesperson for the attorney-general said. “We think that is best done through governments working cooperatively.”
theage.com.au