FACED with an uphill battle to retain power in next month’s elections, Australia’s prime minister has found a new rallying cry: a pledge to protect drivers of gas-guzzling SUVs from a global push to switch to battery-powered electric vehicles.

It’s already set Scott Morrison at odds with a global investor group, a vocal technology billionaire and Tesla Inc.’s Elon Musk.

Morrison is attacking the main opposition’s Labor Party’s proposal to boost adoption of electric vehicles, saying it’s an assault on motorists’ freedoms and love of vehicles that have some “grunt.”

“You should be able to have your choice about the sort of vehicle you want to drive, that you want to get around in on the weekend, if you want to put the under-6’s soccer team in the back of your SUV,” Morrison said Tuesday in the town of Gosford, about 90 minutes north of Sydney.

Labor, which is leading in opinion polls and favorite to win the election, wants to accelerate Australia’s sluggish shift away from combustion-engine vehicles. Leader Bill Shorten is aiming for half of new car sales to be electric vehicles by 2030 — compared with just 0.2 percent in 2017. The opposition also plans to strengthen vehicle emissions standards, which currently trail the United States.

Morrison, whose Liberal-National coalition is seeking a third term in office, said that could see SUVs and utes, vehicles popular with tradespeople, being “ultimately outlawed” -- a claim he hasn’t backed up.

The sharp differences between Labor and the governing coalition on how to tackle climate change are shaping up as a key issue for voters frustrated at a decade of political dithering and policy missteps that have left them with spiraling power bills.

Morrison has dropped plans to legislate the Paris Agreement goal of cutting carbon emissions, and is considering subsidizing a new coal-fired power plant to lower the cost of energy for consumers. Labor is advocating more ambitious emissions targets and wants to tighten standards imposed on the worst industrial polluters.

The “completely ridiculous” spat between political leaders over electric vehicles underscores the challenge for investors from Australia’s chaotic policy on energy and climate change, according to Fiona Reynolds, chief executive officer of Principles for Responsible Investment.

“This whole thing about ‘you won’t be able to drive your ute on the weekend’ rather than thinking about the economic benefits that could come from a new industry, seems very small-minded,” said Reynolds. (SD-Agencies)