Australians keep buying huge cars in huge numbers. If we want to cut emissions, this can’t go on | Richard Denniss

We subsidise the purchase of twin-cab utes and charge GST on bikes and public transport. It's absurd

Parisians just voted to charge large vehicles three times more to park in the city than small vehicles. In Australia we offer the most convenient parking for free to people driving enormous twin-cab utes (we call them loading zones, even though you don't have to load up anything more than your groceries). Policy choices matter.

Last year all of Australia's top 10 selling cars were twin-cab utes or large SUVs. And just as most utes aren't really shifting cargo around our cities, sports utility vehicles" are not engaged in sport - and they clearly aren't utilities. But the names used to describe these expensive, inefficient and dangerous forms of transport are by no means the most absurd thing about Australian car culture.