When the government was elected, it promised to lead the way on electric vehicles, and specifically to make the government vehicle fleet emissions-free where-practicable by 2025.
They lied:
There are 15,473 vehicles in the government fleet and only 78 are electric. When the coalition Government came into power in late 2017, the agreement between Labour and New Zealand First stipulated that the entire fleet would be emissions-free by mid-2025, "where practicable".
Although it was repeated as recently as June, that goal has been quietly revised to a commitment that, after mid-2025, all new vehicles entering the fleet will be emissions-free.
But while backing away from the formal commitment, they're still trying to pretend they intend to meet it. But if that's the case, why back away at all? The only reason seems to be that they do not intend to meet it, or anything like it (and possibly not even National's promise for a third of the government fleet to be electric). As for the reason, none is given, but it is likely to be pure penny-pinching. New electric cars are expensive, and those arseholes in Treasury think its cheaper (for them) to just keep on ruining the planet instead. Meanwhile, when the government is trying to get the rest of us into electric cars, this sends a very bad message. If they're leading by example, then the example they're setting is that no change is necessary. And that's exactly the opposite of the message they need to be sending.
