Well, it's deja vu all over again.

I thought I was pretty original in rolling out an electric car future for Australia back in the good old days immediately before the 2019 election.

At the time, a man named Scotty from Sydney's inner-eastern suburbs set me straight about how they're just no good.

They can't pull a caravan.

They can't power a ute. If you live in a flat, you'll have to run an extension cord from out the window. They'll end the weekend. That's how Scott set me straight.

Well, you could knock me down with a feather when I turned on the telly the other day, there was Scotty spruiking the economy-boosting benefits of the dreaded electric vehicle.

As he sold the benefits, I couldn't help thinking I'd heard this somewhere before.

There's been a fair bit of deja vu around for me recently.

When I went to the election in 2019 proposing a 45 per cent cut to emissions by 2030, no less an institution than the Business Council of Australia said it would wreck the economy.

Fast-forward to last month and the BCA now wants 45 to 50 per cent cuts.

It brings to mind the great anthem by the former member for Kingsford Smith.

"Short memory, must have a, short memory." Has the world changed or have I changed? I've seen weathervanes with more conviction.

Whichever way you look at it, the market has spoken. Electric vehicles are coming.

According to Bloomberg, global electric vehicle sales rose 80 per cent in 2021, with a predicted four million electric cars to be sold by year end. A record.

Despite practically every major car maker in the world planning and converting their fleets to electric, with tight targets in place, in 2020, only 0.7 per cent of new cars sold in Australia were electric.

By comparison, the same sales figure for the UK was 10.6 per cent and global leader Norway was 47.5 per cent.

Even the US has got its skates on, with car-manufacturing behemoth GM recently committing to all its vehicles being electric by 2035.

I have recently been driving a Tesla. I was the first Australian Federal politician to request and receive a fully electric car.

It's excellent to drive, it's economical and I feel like I'm helping the environment. And it's cheaper to run than a petrol car, saving the taxpayer money.

I have estimated I'll save at least $4000 a year for the taxpayer on fuel alone. Not to mention maintenance.

While I'm glad to see Scotty has belatedly jumped on the bandwagon it's a real shame Australia has gained a reputation for being slow on the uptake when it comes to electric cars. With the sad farewell of Holden, our last Aussie car manufacturer, and a failure to invest and embrace in new technologies, Australia has recently been called the automotive third world.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese and shadow minister for industry and innovation Ed Husic have underlined Labor's commitment to catching up to the rest of the world on this issue with a policy that would make e-vehicles cheaper.

This is a boon for consumers.

Electric vehicles are cheaper to run.

And for those who like a bit of grunt under the bonnet, today's electric vehicles are a quantum leap from the anaemic hybrids and e-vehicles of the past.

But under the Liberals, only the rich will be able to afford electric cars.

Under Labor, most people can have the choice.

As a country we need to a move on. We can't let those who let our car industry slide away fearmonger us out of seizing future opportunities for this nation and its people.

But I don't think it will be long before Australia is on song. The winds of change are blowing too strong. We just have to be ready.

I've been speaking about a much-needed commitment to electric cars for some time now as a way for Australia to move with the times and to create jobs and opportunities for Australian workers and industry.

There are real opportunities for Australia to claw some car-industry jobs back.

I like to imagine a future Australia where not only are e-vehicles more obtainable for consumers but where Australia has a good slice of the global industry and the manufacturing jobs.

Australia has always been faithful to good Aussie brands.

There's a reason Ford and Holden did so well with the Falcons and Commodores that were made here for decades.

But it's now time to imagine a new future where we see the rebirth of manufacturing and get on board with what every other leading country has already cottoned on to.

No deja vu about it.

This opinion piece was first published in The West Australian on Wednesday, 17 November 2021.