Brownlee Gerry: Land Transport Management Amendment Bill — Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeBrownlee Gerry: Land Transport Management Amendment Bill — Third Reading[Sitting date: 04 June 2013. Volume:690;Page:10695. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon GERRY BROWNLEE (Minister of Transport): I moveThat the Land Transport Management Amendment Bill be now read a third time. I thank members of the select committee particularly the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee in this case for the work that they have done on the Land Transport Management Amendment Bill. It has been given a very thorough examination and a number of valuable amendments have been made.The bill amends the Land Transport Management Act 2003 known as “the Act” and it also repeals the Public Transport Management Act 2008 and carries over its provisions as modified by the bill. The bill is part of the Government’s ongoing efforts to cut unnecessary red tape and to create better more effective legislation.The bill has three main components. First it simplifies the Act’s planning and funding framework. Second it streamlines the Act’s tolling and public-private partnership provisions and third it implements a new public transport operating model.Key changes made by the bill are first to planning and funding. The bill amends the Act’s planning and funding framework by making it simpler more streamlined and less prescriptive. To achieve this the bill focuses decision making on three key criteria: effectiveness efficiency and safety. It also combines the former five national and regional transport planning documents into three main documents. The bill simplifies the Act’s consultation provisions and enables regions to tailor their engagement processes to specific situations. The bill also allows the New Zealand Transport Agency to borrow against National Land Transport Fund revenue to finance projects with the approval of the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Transport should circumstances suggest there is a good case for borrowing and it is prudent to do so.The bill also amends the Act’s tolling and public-private partnership provisions. The bill simplifies and streamlines the Act’s framework for assessing tolling schemes and processes for improving public-private partnerships. These changes will reduce potential barriers to the use of the Act’s tolling and public-private partnership provisions while maintaining robust approval processes. In respect of regional fuel tax the inefficient and impractical regional fuel tax put in place in 2008 is repealed.Finally the bill establishes the public transport operating model in legislation. This model provides a new framework for building long-term partnerships between regional councils and public transport operators to deliver public transport services. The model will deliver more competitive public transport services that are less reliant on public subsidy. Over time public transport users will see better integration of services and better-quality services with more focus on customer needs.The Land Transport Management Amendment Bill is an important bill and I am confident that it will only improve land transport planning and decision making as well as ensuring that central and local government get better value for money from their investment in public transport. It will also support all of our efforts to cut unnecessary red tape to create better more effective legislation. I commend this bill to the House.