"Omg, fuel cost is skyrocketing"
"We could promote elec-"
"Quick! Allow cars to run on bunker fuels!"
Is Australia trying a mad-max speedrun?
this post was submitted on 12 Mar 2026
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How about putting pressure on the usa and israel and stopping collaborating woth them in this war of agression
Greens wouldn't have. That being said thank fucking god it's not the liberals in charge I don't even want to imagine what shit fuck mess we'd be in if they were in government during this Iran war.
For fucks sake.
I fucking hate all our politicians
This one was a right move. Fuel price is in everything. Keeping it under control is right thing.
I strongly disagree as there are alternatives to further torching our world further. This is another short-sighted solution to a problem that inevitably effects us, and we are going all in.
The winners are not us, as much as it may seem
What alternatives? Please give an example?
I doubt you are messaging in any good faith, but which aspect does that open ended question point to? I'm not going to give the history of the world as I know it!
My point is, we have not been good stewards of our environment and we knee jerk towards the most destructive path at all times. Find some evidence to the contrary and we will discuss.
Nothing "knee-jerk" in it; it's just pragmatic. The economy needs to run, and a strong economy is required to achieve any meaningful progress. The main problem is that many of "green" green lack knowledge (or pretend to lack knowledge) of the real world. They do tremendous damage to real "green" projects by advocating for "pipe dreams" instead of projects that could achieve something. Look at the anti-nuclear position of the "Green" party as an example (they should be pro-nuclear if they genuinely care about the environment). All their proposals are just hand-waving, which is unachievable and has no link to reality. And when you ask them, "What are the alternatives? Is there a real plan?" all you get are accusations or another "pipe dream"
The answer is not for everyone to replace their Gas Guzzlers with Spark Guzzlers. The answer is better Public Infrastructure so humanity can be less dependant on any for if inefficient private transport.
The most efficient Hybrid is still a Diesel Locomotive and the most efficient EV is still an Electric suburban train.
Didn't say every one gets electric cars. The worst damage will come from mining and industry. We seem to be having different convos.
The dependency issue which we are knee-jerking at, is one created through years of inaction, which clearly won't change.
Ignoring things until they become a problem is not good leadership
Similar level to "improve housing availability by freezing housing standards". Hurts the same people it purports to help.
Yeah but also nah.
The relaxed standards will cause more emissions and may reduce longevity of a vehicle.
The question is how much of each will occur, which I think is unknowable?
We do know - none. These new emission laws only came in a few months ago, so we’re just going back to what we were 4 months ago.
If the new laws weren't going to reduce emissions, why were they introduced?
More so we know it doesn’t impact longevity of cars. Emissions have only been lowered for a few months, going back for a while won’t hurt if it helps people afford petrol.
Amazing.
You disagree?
No, I agree with you. We are in agreement regarding the least interesting thing anyone ever agreed on.
I replied to the upstream comment without realising that we're just going back to the rules we had 3 months ago.
Again, for clarity, there is no disagreement here.
They're going back to the standard we had in December last year. It's not a dramatic downgrade, just more sulfur iirc.
That does make it sound better, but that change was already a more than a decade overdue
Here's the part most Australians don't know. For years, our petrol would have been illegal in almost every country we'd consider a peer. Europe hit 10ppm sulphur limits back in 2009. The United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, China, even India all got there before us.
Global consultancy Stratas Advisors ranked Australia's fuel quality 85th in the world. We sat between Argentina and Tanzania. A 2017 Commonwealth review put us 70th globally and dead last among the 35 OECD countries.
And what are we going back to?
Air pollution causes approximately 5,000 premature deaths in Australia each year. Vehicle emissions account for a significant chunk of that figure. Research from the University of Melbourne and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare linked dirty fuel directly to heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, and asthma. Emerging studies suggest connections to Alzheimer's, dementia, and ADHD.
The annual health cost? Around $17.8 billion, with another $4.5 billion in welfare losses and lost productivity. That exceeds the national burden of obesity.
The International Council on Clean Transportation estimated that proper fuel standards could reduce premature deaths from vehicle emissions by up to 75 per cent. For years, Australian policymakers had that research sitting on their desks.
That doesn't seem like a big deal in the short term.
Are they going to call the cheaper fuel 'Guzzoline'?
Diseasal
We'll all be riding shiny and chrome
Witness
Does this mean acid rain is back on the menu?