Roundup: Aussie energy minister faces backlash after supporting tax concessions for electric vehicles

CANBERRA, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Australia's Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg has faced backlash from conservative colleagues after he announced his support for electric vehicles.

Frydenberg on Sunday predicted that the number of electric vehicles in Australia would grow from 4,000 currently to more than 230,000 by 2025.

He also signalled greater support for the electric car industry, saying he would work towards "better coordination of existing and future activities to support low emissions vehicles."

His comments came as the industry pushes for tax breaks, a move which conservative government backbenchers have ruled out supporting.

Behyad Jafari, chief executive officer (CEO) of the Electric Vehicle Council, said that a package that would reduce the cost of electric vehicles by 5,500 U.S. dollars was necessary for the industry to flourish.

"We need in Australia a ­nationally co-ordinated plan to support the transition from internal combustion vehicles to electric vehicles," he told News Limited on Monday.

Frydenberg indicated that such concessions could be introduced in what he said would be a transport "revolution."

"The Turnbull government looks forward to continuing to work with all state and territory governments, along with consumer groups and industry, on better co-ordination of existing and future activities to support low emissions vehicles," he said.

"What we need to see is some of the infrastructure issues resolved, because when people come to make a decision about the vehicle that they purchase they want to be sure if they do purchase an electric vehicle that they can plug it in when they go on a long road trip."

The debate around electric cars coincided with British billionaire Sanjeev Gupta's CFG Alliance move to establish an electric vehicle plant in South Australia.

CFG has approached General Motors (GM) to purchase the decommissioned Holden factory near Adelaide which it would repurpose to build electric cars.

In a letter to GM, South Australian Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis asked the American motoring giant to support the plans.

"We are incredibly excited and supportive of the GFG Alliance's bid and subsequent plans to ensure the continuation of our very proud history of automotive excellence and innovation in South Australia," Koutsantonis wrote.

"We believe that the GFG Alliance's plans would put South Australia at the forefront of the inevitable transition of the Australian market to electric vehicles and ask that all due consideration be given to their bid and the potentially significant benefits to the automotive industry and broader community in South Australia."

Frydenberg confirmed on Monday that he and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull had met Gupta along with several other government ministers.

"He has some exciting plans for South Australia, and if he wants to invest in creating more jobs then of course we would always welcome that," Frydenberg told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Monday.

"I don't know how advanced those plans are. But certainly he's focused on steelmaking, he's focused on energy for those plants and he's proven himself internationally to be an entrepreneur who's got results."

Gupta already has business interests in South Australia after he rescued the Whyalla steel works from closure in August 2017 before buying 50.1 percent of Adelaide-based battery company Zen Energy, which he said would move to support major renewable energy projects. Enditem