Senate candidate Lin Hatfield Dodds says she's not environmentally irresponsible for owning a V8 Toyota Landcruiser.
But her choice of vehicle is in stark contrast to the environmentally friendly models favoured by her Greens colleagues at the Legislative Assembly.
Of Canberra's four MLAs, three drive a Toyota Prius and the fourth has a Smart Car.
Labor senator Kate Lundy's lease plan vehicle is a six- cylinder Ford FG. The other family car is a 2007 Ford Territory.
Liberal senator Gary Humphries and his wife drive a Toyota Corolla and a Toyota Aurion.
Ms Hatfield Dodds told The Canberra Times that poor public transport options forced her family to buy a second car about two years ago. The other family car was a Toyota Echo. The 4WD was chosen to take the family on monthly camping trips.
''I'm not at all worried about driving a four-wheel drive I've always said I don't fit the mould of what people often perceive a green to be,'' she said.
Both cars' carbon emissions were offset through Greening Australia's Breathe Easy program. According to Greening Australia, a large diesel V8 4WD produces 5.460 tonnes of emissions each year. The recommended offset donation is $191.10.
''I drive two cars. I have a Landcruiser and an Echo. Mostly I drive the Echo because I try not to drive the big car around Canberra. That's our car to go camping in and I ride an e-cycle, which is a bicycle with a little battery on it, and I walk,'' Ms Hatfield Dodds said.
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