In my recent blog ‘Rent-seekers in the motor industry’ I drew attention to the successful lobbying by the motor industry to retain the $12,000 excise duty on used-car imports into Australia and the restriction that imports must be limited to a single second-hand vehicle.

To defend its position, the Chief Executive of the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries has said that there have been instances in New Zealand where used-car imports were linked to the Japanese mafia, the Yakuza, and instances where radioactive cars from the Fukushima nuclear disaster found their way to Russia.

This type of scare-mongering really exposes the weakness of the case which is designed to protect business interests rather than give consumers lower prices and more choice in second-hand vehicles. The case espoused by the motor industry has descended into farce,