Smith StuartSTUART SMITH (National—Kaikōura): It is a pleasure to speak on the Energy Innovation (Electric Vehicles and Other Matters) Amendment Bill. This is about innovation—Tracey Martin: No it's not.STUART SMITH: —and if we cast our minds back in history to when the motor vehicle really got going just prior to that period and I am sure the leader of New Zealand First will remember this well the internal combustion engine had not really gained the foothold. It was a real toss-up as to whether electric vehicles or the internal combustion engine would be the mode of transport of choice. However the internal combustion engine won that race and hopefully the leader of New Zealand First bought the right vehicle at that time. We have built our economy around the internal combustion engine and we are in a period now of rapid change. I think for some they would like things to change overnight as the previous speaker Stuart Nash perhaps was alluding to. Electric vehicles require charging stations at regular intervals and we are only just getting to that point now. In fact there are two charging stations right in the middle of Kaikōura put in there not long before the earthquake as it turns out and they are sitting there as part of State Highway 1. There will be more stations installed along State Highway 1 which will make it much more practical for the use of electric vehicles.One of the issues that people face with electric vehicles is the anxiety over the range of those vehicles. Although most people's—in fact the average distance of driving a vehicle in a day is fewer than 30 kilometres and people have this anxiety that they need to be able to drive for several hundred kilometres and be able to fuel up or charge up and continue a journey when they very infrequently take trips of that length. It is a very interesting time that we are living in where we are sitting here now waiting for this revolution that is coming our way. But what comes first? Government regulations have some part to play and this bill is part of that so that we can allow the ground for the market to work in the way that it will to get this across the line.We had an e-day in Marlborough a couple of months ago and it was fantastic to get along and see the electric cars that were available on display that day—even electric lawnmowers believe it or not. A ride-on electric lawnmower—I did not think there was such a thing but there is. I was not quite so taken with that as I was with the little robotic one where it does its own thing and you do not even have to go out and sit on it—which would be quite good I have to say. I am trying to talk my wife into getting one—save me a job.Electric vehicles will come but we need to get all of those things in place. Battery technology is coming a long way but the latest vehicles—each iteration that comes out has that greater range has that greater usability for users but we need those charging stations along the way and there is a great group putting them in. I think there has been fantastic progress made and there will be more in the near future. But I guess the big prize for us is heavy transport fuel which is actually a big thing in terms of climate change and as an executive member of GLOBE it is something I turn my mind to quite a bit and how we might deal with that. Interestingly in Norway they have electric ships; I think we are a long way from that here in New Zealand.Anyway I think this is a fantastic bill and it is a great step—great leadership shown by the Government in this area—and it will evolve in time. In a few years' time we will look back and think how quickly things have changed. I commend this bill to the House.Bill read a second time.