MP demands 33% tax on large utes and SUVs as pedestrian deaths hit 17-year high

A Melbourne “Teal” MP has called for large SUVs and utes to be taxed more in response to new data showing pedestrian fatalities are at a 17-year high.

The Member for Kooyong in the city wealthy inner-east, Dr Monique Ryan, claimed there were “twice as many utes as tradies in Australia” and said: “We need remove the luxury car tax exemption which incentivises people to buy megautes instead of safer, cleaner smaller cars and SUVs”.

She also posted a link to an article from The Age newspaper showing that 51 pedestrians had been killed on Victorian roads in the year to Saturday, the highest since 2008, and a 27% increase since 2015 based on a four-year rolling average.

The article quoted a Melbourne University transport safety researcher, Milad Haghani, who believes growing vehicle size is to blame, citing a UK review of 24 academic studies that found large utes and SUVs were 44% more likely to kill an adult pedestrian or cyclist in a crash than a sedan, and 82% more likely to kill a child.

Haghani also called for the 33% luxury car tax to apply to “American-style” utes, and that Victoria should charge large car owners higher registration fees.

Large SUVs and utes are 82% more likely to kill children in collisions- 44% more likely to kill adult pedestrians or cyclists. They damage our roads and add to air pollution, harming our health.

There’s twice as many utes as tradies in Australia. We need remove the luxury car…

— Dr Monique Ryan MP (@Mon4Kooyong) December 27, 2025

Dr Ryan’s comments caused a massive backlash online, with many Australians expressing annoyance at constant nanny state interference in their personal lives, asking why she was ignoring heavy electric vehicles, and suggesting there could be other reasons for the rise in pedestrian deaths.

“Now the road toll is going up due to foreign drivers on our roads with no skills or understanding of the road rules, I’ll be driving my kids in the safest, biggest car I can afford,” wrote lawyer and former Liberal candidate Katherine Deves.

“Also, despite the Teal insistence on bikes and cars sharing the road, a city like Sydney is not built to accommodate cyclists – increasingly perilous due to cramming in millions of people, narrow/old and often windy roads & streets due to the harbour terrain.”

“I’m really sick of the Karen Industrial Complex constantly hyperventilating over the most asinine bullshit. Our country is being turned to shit, yet your gripe is about ‘big cars scary’,” wrote political commentator Brian Marlow.

“EVs are heavier than ICE [internal combustion engine] so cause more road damage and have inferior stopping ability. BYD Shark hybrid weighs 2.7 t, whereas the Ford Ranger is 2 t. Fords electric F150 Lightening is 2.5-3.1 tonnes, but their F150 ICE is 1.8-2.5 t. Petrol is about 700kg lighter. Carry on,” said Kennards Self Storage CEO Sam Kennard.

“Wasn’t the original purpose of the luxury car tax to protect/ promote the local car manufacturing industry? If so then what is the justification for the tax still being applied?” asked another.

Header image: A 2026 Ford Ranger Super Duty (Ford).

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