Another Clunker of an Idea



And yet another CLUNKER of an idea from this idea-bereft ALP Government. The Cash for Clunkers scheme is not only another example of a socialist big government nanny telling you what to drive and using your tax dollars to instigate the regulation but also is an obvious way to appease the extreme left arm of the Labor Party, the Greens.

Clearly not convinced by the recent wishy washy Gillard "climate change" policy that was spouted out just a day earlier to this announcement, the Greens and in particular Senator Christine Milne who very vocally upset with Julia about that lack of commitment, will no doubt be slightly amused by the thought of more hybrid cars on the road.

Anyone (and many motoring experts agree) who have looked at this expensive and unproven technology already knows that the hybrid car solution is a complete waste of time and has no real effect on carbon emissions. As if that is a problem anyway!

I agreed, when unleaded fuel was introduced, that removing lead from the air around us is obviously a wise thing to do but to think that the few major cities in Australia are now living under clouds of smog, aka LA or Beijing, is a fanciful thought -- and let's never forget that Julia Gillard has promised us all that she doesn't want a "BIG AUSTRALIA" thus the population in our cites will never reach the levels they are in America, China or Europe.

Apart from the fact that the current city infrastructures could never cope with such an increase in vehicle numbers it seem quite academic to assume that by removing only 200,000 pre 1995 model cars from our nations roads will make a damn bit of difference to any pollution levels at all.

Why is it also assumed that if a car is 15 years old, or older, that it is emitting more pollution than a car that is younger? Is it also not a fact that if a car owner takes personal responsibility for their vehicle and makes sure that servicing and maintenance is regular, then that vehicle should emit no less smoke than it did when new?

This is the nanny state that they want us to accept, to believe that we are not capable of personal responsibility and that the state will run all matters of our life, including in this case, the car that we drive and its age. What next, no more cars for the general population, pushbikes and rickshaws for all?

There is something also incredibly obvious to me and I am sure to you also, and that is that the car dealers will certainly see an opportunity here to capitalise on this rebate by upping the price of these so-called Eco compliant models, when the scheme is introduced.

So if you are looking for one of these Eco buzz boxes and you want to feel warm and fuzzy about your great contribution to mankind by falling for this bit of pork barrelling then you will have to pay extra for it. Come to think of it, if Gillard is reinstated as the Prime Minister, then we will all have to pay for this one in the end.

At this rate many of us won't be able to afford the new car or the E10 petrol that we put in our dirty old one and Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore's destructive 200 kilometres of bike lanes won't look that bad.