Faafoi Kris: Road User Charges Bill — In Committee 
Faafoi Kris: Road User Charges Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:676;Page:21781] 
KRIS FAAFOI (Labour—Mana) 
: 
 Thank you for the opportunity to speak to Part 4 of the Road User Charges Bill. This part of the bill sets out the infringements that can be imposed on anyone who transgresses in terms of the new regime for road-user charges. I am looking at clause 67B where in the case of an individual it is a fine of $15000 or more and in the case of a body corporate it is in the area of $75000 or more. In terms of whatever fine is imposed upon a person or a body corporate the accuracy and the fairness of the regime will be paramount. 
I guess in terms of that we have some reservations especially given that part of the evidence that can be used which we saw in Part 3 is the electronic monitoring system that can be used to track road-user charges especially when last month that electronic system essentially packed up. We think that maybe in terms of the law and the practicality of the bill as it stands now there may be some way to go and we may be slightly ahead of ourselves in terms of being able to have an accurate measure of how some of these road-user charges will be calculated in terms of the infringement fines in Part 4 that may be imposed upon some people. 
In terms of that electronic management system last month vehicle owners were not able to renew their registrations or update their road-user charges or change of ownership details at New Zealand Post shops so some serious questions need to be asked about the reliability of that system in terms of being able to use that as evidence to put infringement notices upon a company or individual. This goes back to the fairness and accuracy of the new system moving from gross weights to nominated weights. There are some major concerns from some people and some companies within the industry as to whether the accuracy will actually be accurate. Instead of being accurate and fair the provisions within this bill are basically another muddle through to make sure that we can catch everyone. 
I have an honest question for the Associate Minister of Transport who I understand is leaving the chair at the moment about the level of evasion that occurs within the industry—the percentage of just how much of a problem there is at the moment. 
I turn to an issue that my colleague Darien Fenton was talking about in terms of setting out the levels of road-user charges and the fact that that will no longer have any public scrutiny but will now be done by regulation. As my colleague said this breaks with the principle that there should be no taxation without representation. There is major concern on this side of the Chamber that there will be no scrutiny of that. I believe that in the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee in terms of the final numbers being available for scrutiny to make sure that the bill could proceed I understand that they were not available and that the actual charges will be set by officials at some later date. That is what my colleague Darien Fenton was getting to: how can we scrutinise this part of the bill in relation to the setting of the levels of road-user charges when in fact we do not know what they are? Those are two major concerns around infringement and the fact that these new charges will be set by regulations which we have issue with in Part 4. 
Going back to my original point about infringement fines of $15000 and $75000 I do not think we will have any major problem about that. But again I just reiterate the fact that we need to have an accurate measure of the evasion within the industry because if we do not have that we may be fixing a problem that does not actually exist. In that respect we ask whether there was actually a problem that needed to be fixed in a manner that will massively increase the amount of road-user charges that some of our truckers will have to pay. In terms of that there is serious concern within the industry and those concerned made their voices heard in the select committee. I have glanced over a number of the submissions made at the select committee and there is real concern about the level of road-user charges that some companies will have to pay.