Minister praises industry input into laws
The Minister of Transport has sung the praises of the motor industry for providing feedback that led to a number of tweaks to the Land Transport (Clean Vehicles) Amendment Bill, which has passed its third reading in parliament.
Michael Wood says New Zealanders will soon have greater access to cheaper electric and climate-friendly cars following the passing of the legislation on February 17, which will allow the government to enact the clean car standard and turn the clean car discount into a full feebate scheme from the start of April.
The bill passed its final hurdle by 77 votes to 43 after being backed by Labour, Green and Te Pati Maori MPs, while members for the National and Act parties opposed the proposals.
Since parliament resumed for 2022 on February 8, the bill has had its second reading, been before the committee of the whole house and passed its third reading in the space of just a few days. It will now go for royal assent to confirm the measures in law.
Wood, pictured, says: “With the rest of the world moving to phase out petrol vehicles, we have kept our ambitious targets to stop us becoming a dumping ground for the world’s dirtiest cars.
“I want to thank the industry for their constructive engagement which has led to a number of tweaks to improve the legislation, and we welcome the support from Tesla, Toyota, Suzuki, among others,"
He adds the new legislation will support people to help keep the country clean and green because “climate change is a challenge we cannot postpone”
"We’ve made a good start on supporting New Zealanders to move to an electric or hybrid vehicle, with the clean car discount driving electric car registrations beyond projections to over 10,000 since July 2021, more than the total number ever registered under the entirety of the last government. Over 8,000 were eligible for the discount,” he explains.
"This legislation takes us further by expanding the discount to include new and used imported hybrids and other low-emission vehicles from April 1, 2022, expected to prevent a further five million tonnes of emissions.”
Wood says the bill will also deliver on Labour’s 2020 election pledge to introduce a clean car import standard, which he adds will provide consumers with “greater access to low and zero-emissions vehicles”.
“These cars are not only cleaner but are much cheaper to run over their lifetimes, with a full charge costing the equivalent of buying petrol at around 40 cents per litre.
"Public EV charging has also become much more accessible, with charging stations available, on average, every 75 kilometres across over 97 per cent of our state highway network, and hundreds more chargers in the process of being installed.”
James Shaw, Minister of Climate Change, also welcomes the passing of the clean vehicles legislation and says it will make it easier and more affordable for families to “access clean, green ways of getting around – adding to the measures we’ve already taken and the uptake we’ve already seen”.
