Sustainability Commissioner knows nothing about cars

Call to slug petrol heads more for rego
Petrol guzzlers should be slugged more in vehicle registration than those who drive greener cars, according to Victoria's sustainability watchdog.
A report by Environmental Sustainability Commissioner Ian McPhail recommends registration fees be pegged to emissions output. Under the scheme, Victorians who own more efficient cars would qualify for concessions on their registration bill.

Ian McPhail does not understand that cars only emit pollutants when they are being driven. The pollution is highly correlated with litres of fuel consumed, is closely linked to km driven, but has no connection at all with time elapsed. eg a registered car that sits idle all year emits no pollutants and guzzles no petrol.
One good way of deterring petrol guzzlers would be to increase the tax on every litre of petrol.
A reasonable way of deterring petrol guzzlers would be to tax every vehicle based on the km driven and a guess of its average fuel consumption.
However, it is moronic to try to deter petrol guzzlers by increasing the yearly registration charge. Under this system a person who drives a few km per week in his old Ford Falcon will be slugged whereas someone who burns through an enormous amount of fuel in a small car will be rewarded. How sustainable is that?

These govt clowns have got no idea of the user-pays principle, and in this case, no idea how to improve environmental sustainability.