During a frantic campaign before Australia's last election, Prime Minister Scott Morrison famously warned that a plan by the opposition to promote electric vehicles (EVs) would "end the weekend" and all but ruin daily life for average Australians, most of whom rely on private cars.
But in a stark political reversal, he has now embraced electric cars ahead of the next election, which is due by May.
In a move seen as kicking off his campaign, Mr Morrison visited a renewable fuel plant in the state of Victoria and announced an A$250 million (S$245 million) plan to build charging stations around the country.
The funds will help build 1,000 public charging stations, as well as provide access to charging facilities for more than 50,000 homes and 400 businesses. Charging stations are crucial in vast countries like Australia, as many people drive long distances between population centres.
Asked this week about his earlier claims that EVs "will not tow your boat" and could not be used to "get you out to your favourite camping spot with your family", Mr Morrison denied ridiculing the technology. He said he opposed subsidies and targets for EV sales but instead believed in supporting the development of technology and infrastructure that would make the vehicles more affordable.
"I want Australians to have a choice about what sort of car they want to drive," he told Parliament.
"We want to ensure those technology costs come down so (EVs) can be affordable to Australians who wish to buy them."
Mr Morrison's sudden show of support for EVs was largely welcomed, especially as he has been fiercely resistant to adopting more ambitious climate policies.
But analysts said the new policy would do little to boost Australia's uptake of such vehicles. In Australia, about 1 per cent of new cars sold last year were electric, compared with about 4 per cent globally and about 10 per cent in advanced economies. In Norway, about three-quarters of new cars sold are electric.
Critics said Mr Morrison should provide incentives for EV buyers. In the most populous state of New South Wales, for instance, those who buy new electric cars receive a cash rebate of A$3,000, as the state government aims to ensure that more than 50 per cent of all new cars sold are electric by 2030.
But Mr Morrison has also refused to introduce fuel efficiency standards, leaving Australia as the only country in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development - and one of the few countries in the world - without such standards.
These standards encourage carmakers to either increase prices of their petrol and diesel models or lower the prices of their electric and hybrid models, or both.
Commentators warn that Australia's lack of such standards is acting as an incentive for carmakers in Europe, America, Japan and elsewhere to sell their high-emissions vehicles in the country.
An economics writer, Mr Jacob Greber, said Australia risks becoming a "global dumping ground for unwanted gas guzzlers".
"Carmakers have a powerful reason not to ship EVs into the Australian market," he wrote in the Australian Financial Review.
"Even worse, this disincentive to selling EVs to Australia will only get worse as regulators abroad ratchet down the average emissions allowable across carmakers' offerings, increasing their incentive to focus EV sales on those markets," he wrote.
Interestingly, pointed criticism of Mr Morrison's new policy came from a fellow member of his Liberal Party, Mr Matt Kean, who is treasurer of New South Wales.
"Our fuel standards are worse than China's and they're worse than India and what that means is that Australia is becoming the dumping ground for the vehicles the rest of the world doesn't want," Mr Kean told ABC News.
"That is not only bad for the environment, but it means that consumers are getting less choice and they are paying more at the bowser (petrol pump)."
The opposition Labor Party has yet to say whether it will back vehicle emission standards ahead of the looming election.
