My local member for Warwick is now the deputy leader of the National Party (Conservative, like the Republican Party). He is part of a vocal minority in government that is resisting any action on climate change. Because the government only has a one seat majority in the house and has to govern in coalition with the Nationals, this makes him a very powerful man. This is similar to the situation in the US at the moment with Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema — except our national leader is not progressive.
I met David at the local shopping centre and we had an interesting chat about electric cars. He said there was no charging infrastructure. I pointed out that there was a high-speed charger just 200 meters from where we stood. He said that EVs had too little range to use in his electorate. I showed him the Tesla app, which stated I had over 300 km of range. He said there were no chargers in other country towns. I showed him the PlugShare app, which listed multiple chargers throughout his electorate.
Silly me, I thought he was listening. Watching him as he has elevated through the ranks, and listening to his comments about renewable energy and climate change, it is obvious he was not.
Meanwhile in New Zealand, a nearby neighbor clearly has more supportive politics. The island country is invisible, covered in fast charging stations on PlugShare. It must have a constituency that cares for emission-free transportation and vital charging infrastructure.
So, I decided to start a GoFundMe page to raise money to buy him a Tesla of his own — so he would have no excuse not to try it out. At the very least, it would provoke a discussion. Sadly, most of the discussion has been very negative and anti-politicians. My family thinks I am mad. I keep getting asked — is this a joke? No, it is not a joke. I want people to talk and write and maybe, just maybe, we’ll raise some money and make a bigger point.
Comments so far:
Aren’t pollies already on a ‘gofundme’ system?
How are you going to fit the car into a brown paper bag?
Do we register it to a blind trust?
Can you get a model of one to pass around in parliament asking LNP members why they’re afraid of electric vehicles?
After recently returning to Oz….. And watching these geese run the country I’m entering politics. You can order the model Y for me.
At this point in time, no money has been pledged. We’ll just have to wait and see. In the meantime, there is a Tesla Model 3 registered to the Commonwealth Government in Canberra. Maybe David could book that out of the carpool and take it for a burn!
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