Half of the Australians asked would support shifting all sales of new cars to electric vehicles by 2025, according to a new survey.

The Australia Institute found that support for the idea was similar across all states and territories, with 52 percent in favor in Victoria and Western Australia, 49 percent in Queensland and 48 percent in New South Wales.  That came out to one in two, and 28 percent of those asked opposed such a switch.  Politically, more than half of Labor voters - 56 percent - were in favor, as were 65 percent of Greens voters. 

But coalition voters weren't as sure, with only 42 percent in favor, 38 percent were opposed, and the remainder unsure.  Labor Senator Tim Storer of Loxton, SA said he was "deeply concerned" by what he saw as an anti-technology scare campaign being run by some within the government and the media.

"It is akin to someone in 1990 arguing mobile phones were not going to take off," said Storer, "It flies in the face of fact, and the public should not buy it."

Several countries including Norway, the Netherlands, India, Ireland, Israel, the UK, France, Spain, and China have already announced they were phasing out the sale of petrol and diesel cars in coming years.