Poll backs electric vehicle subsidies

NZ First and National may hate the proposed ‘‘feebate’’ low-carbon car scheme – but a new poll suggests two-thirds of New Zealanders could disagree.

According to the nationally representative poll, 68 per cent of Kiwi adults favour subsidising electric vehicles to blunt the impact of climate change.

The poll, by Australian research platform Glow, also found strong support for the ideas underpinning the Government’s current climate policies, from funding research to planting trees.

The survey – run in mid March, before the country went into lockdown – found three-quarters of all Kiwis backed subsidies for renewable electricity generation and educational campaigns on the carbon footprint of products and services.

However, the poll did not name specific policies – for example, it asked if respondents supported funding for planting trees rather than if they supported the One Billion Trees Fund.

Similarly, the poll did not specifically ask about the feebate scheme, which aimed to financially encourage Kiwis to pick lower-emissions cars by applying either a fee or a rebate to newly imported vehicles.

Although the poll found 61 per cent of New Zealanders wanted electric vehicle subsidies introduced without delay, it was unclear if the country supported the second part of the scheme – making newly imported ‘‘gas guzzlers’’ subject to a fee.

When pulling support for the proposal in February, NZ First said it would negatively affect the drivers of heavy vehicles, as electric versions were still in their infancy.

Victoria University policy researcher Dr Geoff Bertram said public support for a general concept without hard details might not translate into support for a thought-out policy. ‘‘It’s nice that there’s that strength of public feeling, but the question hasn’t necessarily gone to the heart of the big policy issue.’’

If public support was as high as the poll suggested, Bertram would expect to see politicians being more politically assertive about the feebate scheme during the upcoming election.

The Climate Catalyst poll surveyed 1048 New Zealanders out of a total of 5256 respondents across five countries in the weighted web survey. The margin of error was 3 per cent.