Act slams clean car ‘red tape’
The Act party has condemned the government’s plan to include motorbikes in the clean car standard.
The Motor Industry Association (MIA) has already asked for the implementation of the Land Transport Clean Vehicles Amendment Act to exclude motorised two-wheelers, as reported by Autofile Online on September 19.
Mark Stockdale, the MIA’s principal technical adviser, describes the measure as “a pointless exercise and mistake in the drafting of the act, which will put motorcycle importers to unnecessary extra work”.
He adds: “What with the roll-out of the clean car discount causing issues for used-car importers in particular, this mistake will create new problems for both new and used motorcycle importers, and other vehicles which are also meant to be exempt, such as special interest or low-volume vehicles.”
Act has entered the fray with Simon Court, the party’s spokesman for transport and climate change, saying motorbike importers are being forced to undergo “more red tape and bureaucracy because the clean car standard is so poorly designed”.
Court, pictured, says: “Since motorcycles are covered by the ‘light vehicle’ definition, importers will be required to set up a CO2 account with Customs to track emissions, even though they aren’t subject to any of the penalties or credits of the scheme.
“Act opposed the legislation because it doesn’t reduce emissions, and it will add complex red tape and costs to consumers.
“On top of being an ineffective waste of taxpayers’ money, the policy is just adding more red tape and regulations on businesses already grappling with a cost-of-living crisis.
“Act would get rid of this legislation. Labour’s attention-seeking climate policies are not reducing emissions and have contributed to a 29.5 per cent increase in burning coal to generate electricity.”
Court adds the emissions trading scheme is his party’s primary response to climate change because it puts a price on emissions and encourages businesses to reduce their emissions in the most cost-effective way.
He says: “We should set a cap on total emissions in-line with the actual reductions of our trading partners, then allow New Zealanders to import high-quality foreign carbon credits so we pay the world price, not an artificial price.”
