Brown Peter: Land Transport Amendment Bill — Second Reading Instruction to Committee In Committee Third Reading 
Brown Peter: Land Transport Amendment Bill — Second Reading Instruction to Committee In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:626;Page:21340] 
PETER BROWN (Deputy Leader—NZ First) 
: 
 Let me say— 
Clayton Cosgrove 
: Don’t use it. 
PETER BROWN 
: Members over there are telling me not to use the 4 minutes 30 seconds I have left to speak. But between my last contribution and this one the Government has seen fit—and it is right and proper that it has—to listen to New Zealand First and has produced a Supplementary Order Paper that will in fact ease the burden of some taxi-drivers who have in the distant past been guilty of some crime. I am told in the information the Government has sent me—and it has been very cooperative which might please Clayton Cosgrove; it has sent me quite a lot of information—that this legislation could affect 600 current taxi-drivers or people with passenger licences of which 200 will get the right of appeal. We think that is fair. I point out to Government members that if they want justice in this country and I am sure they do then it has to be embraced with fairness. 
But an area that I do not think the Government has yet taken on board in terms of this bill—and I emphasise that New Zealand First is going to support the bill—is one that we are concerned about. It is the courtesy buses that are run by clubs. The Transport and Industrial Relations Committee I recall was informed that clubs seek donations to run these buses but I have since found out that some of the major clubs in this country would not be able to provide this service on the basis of donations alone and therefore have a minimum charge. From what I can gather the clubs provide a very very good service. The courtesy buses pick up their clients at their homes charge them something like $2 or $3 and bring them to their clubs. The people enjoy their evenings in the clubs then for another $2 or $3 they are taken home. 
This bill will make that illegal because it provides only for courtesy buses run on the basis of donations. The manager of the Cosmopolitan Club in Mount Maunganui which I believe is one of the largest clubs in New Zealand told me that the service could well be in jeopardy if he is not allowed to charge a fee albeit a very modest one. I understand that many other clubs are also in the same circumstances. I spoke with the Minister of Transport on this and he asked me to get some letters from the clubs. 
In very short order I have had this amount of letters from clubs which illustrates the depth of concern. They come from all over the place. 
Obviously there is one from the Cosmopolitan Club in Mount Maunganui. I have a couple from cosmopolitan clubs. I have one from the Alexandra District Club in the South Island—the message has got around pretty well. I have other letters from Matamata from the Petone Workingmans Club the Napier Returned Services Association and the Whangarei Returned Services Association. So this is a widespread problem. If we do not allow these clubs to put on a minimal charge—if the Supplementary Order Paper does not come into being when the bill goes through the Committee stage—there is a real risk that this service will disappear or it will be run illegally. 
I can see that some Government members are listening—the Minister for Transport Safety is listening. I ask honourable members whether that is what we want. Should we not be facing reality what is happening out there in the real world? Should the laws not reflect what is happening as long as it is legal? We are turning a perfectly legal sound operating activity into an illegal activity. The argument will be that those people should get passenger licences. That is not always possible or practical.