Emission Regulations
The likes of Honda engaged SMEA to support efforts to bring Australia into the 21st century with an emission framework for spark driven engines that married with USA EPA 2012 Regulations. The USA model was used because it’s the largest market and with Australia representing 6% of global sales, it made no sense to force global manufacturers to produce a product specifically for Australia.
The concept phased out dirty two-stroke technology ,so therefore rewarded global manufactures who were spending hundreds of millions of dollars on R&D.
Our role was to help shape policy. We also briefed the Federal Minister and secured Ministerial exemptions for Surf Life Saving Australia, Defence and remote / Indigenous communities.
Quad bikes and OPDs
The Morrison Government tabled a standard in federal parliament forcing every manufacturer in the world to fit an Operator Protection Device (OPD) to brand new quad bikes. No other jurisdiction in the world does this so Honda, Yamaha, Polaris, BRP, CanAm and Suzuki left Australia. The lack of policy vision was extraordinary.
What are some of the challenges with the decision:
- The Government refused to undertake a Regulatory Impact Assessment to quantify the social and economic ramifications of the decision.
- Dealers across Australia overnight lost in excess of 40-70% of their revenue.
- The legislation mandated OPDs and yet did so without asking manufacturers of OPDs to comply with a technical specification an Australian standard, or manufacturing standard.
- The legislation took away the right farmers have to choose to fit an OPD or not based on safety and risk. For example, across some sectors the OPD is actually deemed to be more dangerous if fitted.
- The legislation applies to only new quad bikes sold, so does not apply to over 700,000 second hand quads in the market across the country.
POLICY SOLUTION
The solution is very simple. Remove the word ‘mandatory’ from the legislation giving users and farmers the right to fit an OPD or not base don application.
Secondly, ensure that all OPDs sold in Australia are built to a manufacturing standard and or a technical specification. Doing so is argued to sell more OPDs and deliver a greater safety outcome.