Luxon won't confirm if Clean Car Discount used for wife's Tesla

Christopher Luxon has refused to answer whether or not the Clean Car Discount scheme was used when purchasing his wife's Tesla.

Speaking to Breakfast this morning, the National Party leader said the matter is "not up for discussion".

Newshub have reported that Luxon and his wife appear to have claimed the Clean Car Discount when purchasing a Tesla Model Y.

But Luxon says he opposes the policy and has previously labelled it a "ute tax" saying it only benefits "wealthy Tesla owners".

"My wife owns a Tesla, they're her financial affairs and that's not up for discussion. I'm the politician, not her or my family, so I think that's fair.

"But what is up for discussion is that we stand by our position which is the Clean Car Discount doesn't make sense. Those that can afford to pay don't need a subsidy and frankly those that want to buy a ute and have no alternative end up having to pay a tax."

Asked if he would use the discount if he bought an electric car today, Luxon said it's a "hypothetical question" because he uses a scooter and shares a car with his son.

"The bigger issue here is that the Government is wasting a huge amount of money."

On May 2, the Government revealed changes to the pricing structure of its Clean Car programme, aimed at cutting emissions from New Zealand's vehicle fleet.

The rebate on new zero emission vehicles will drop from $8625 to $7015 on July 1, and for used imports, it will increase from $3450 to $3507.

Vehicles that emit one to 100g of CO2/km — generally plug-in hybrids and smaller hybrids — will get a rebate of $1725 for a vehicle at 100g and $57.50 for each gram below 100g, up to $4025.

Used imports in that range receive half the rebate of a new vehicle.

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