Verrall AyeshaLAND TRANSPORT (CLEAN VEHICLES) AMENDMENT BILL (NO 2)First ReadingHon Dr AYESHA VERRALL (Minister for COVID-19 Response) on behalf of the Minister of Transport: I present a legislative statement on the Land Transport (Clean Vehicles) Amendment Bill (No 2).ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): That legislative statement is published under the authority of the House and can be found on the Parliament website.Hon Scott Simpson: Where's Michael Wood? Where's Napoleon"?ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): Order! [Interruption] Order! Ayesha Verrall.Hon Dr AYESHA VERRALL: I move That the Land Transport (Clean Vehicles) Amendment Bill (No 2) be now read a first time.On 22 February this year the Land Transport (Clean Vehicles) Amendment Bill received the Royal assent. This amendment represented a major step towards decarbonising our transport system and our economy. The amendment established the clean vehicle standard which requires vehicle importers to progressively reduce carbon dioxide emissions of the light vehicles both new and used that they bring into New Zealand. It does this by setting carbon dioxide targets which get more ambitious year by year. The standard is critical to reducing transport emissions because emissions from our light vehicle fleet are the single largest source of transport emissions. Emissions from road transport have also been New Zealand's largest source of emissions.One of the reasons for that is because before we intervened there was no legislative or regulatory leadership in the area of vehicle fuel efficiency and carbon dioxide emission reduction. Before the bill was passed New Zealand was one of only three countries in the OECD alongside Australia and Russia that did not have a vehicle emissions standard. As a consequence light vehicles entering our fleet are more emission intensive than most other developed countries.There is clear evidence in the absence of a regulated carbon dioxide emission standard overseas vehicle manufacturers have not supplied the cleanest most fuel-efficient vehicles. New Zealanders have paid and are still paying the cost for the lack of regulatory oversight in higher vehicle running costs. Vehicles with higher emissions burn more fuel and cost more at the pump.We have moved quickly to establish the clean vehicle standard because it is a critical policy to transition our vehicle fleet to be low emission. It also lowers the cost of living because it lowers fuel bills. It was very clear that if we did not regulate in a world where countries focus on bringing cleaner cars into their fleets we will become even more than we are now the dumping ground for the dirtiest vehicles in the world.Hon David Bennett: Oh that's rubbish.Hon Dr AYESHA VERRALL: It's true.Hon David Bennett: What a load of rubbish.Hon Dr AYESHA VERRALL: It's true. Already we are seeing that the wider clean car programme is working well. Due to the Clean Car Discount record numbers of electric vehicles and hybrids are being imported and bought by New Zealanders. The standard will reinforce the discount by improving the supply of low- and zero-emission vehicles giving New Zealanders more choice in the variety of vehicles available.Now with this bill we are moving to ensure the implementation of the standard is as successful as it can be. Key to that is making the commencement of the standard's obligations as smooth as possible for the vehicle industry. To simplify compliance the bill will provide a six-month phase-in. It will also exclude mopeds and motorcycles from the standard carbon dioxide account in reporting requirements.The standard's requirements start on 1 December 2022. From this date all vehicle importers must hold a carbon dioxide account where the carbon dioxide emissions ratings of their vehicles will be recorded. Without this information vehicles will not be able to complete entry to New Zealand and be registered. From 1 January 2023 the carbon dioxide emissions ratings of vehicles will start to count towards the achievement of carbon dioxide targets. For vehicle importers complying on a pay-as-you-go basis each vehicle will incur a charge or a credit based on its carbon dioxide emissions. Credits can be used to offset charges or be transferred to other importers.The bill provides a six-month phase-in that'll defer from 1 January 2023 the first requirement to pay charges to 1 June 2023. Charges will still be incurred from 1 January 2023 but will not be payable until 1 June 2023. Second the ability to transfer emission credits from 1 June 2023. Credits will still be accrued from 1 January 2023. Third the requirement for a publicly available record of account holders to apply from 1 June 2023. Between 1 December 2022 and 31 May 2023 importers and the public need to apply to Waka Kotahi to access information from the record of account holders. The purpose of these phase-ins is to give vehicle importers time to become accustomed to operating with the new requirements and online system run by Waka Kotahi. It makes it less likely—[Multiple members interject]ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): Order! That's enough.Hon Dr AYESHA VERRALL: —that vehicle importers are penalised by charges because they were unfamiliar with the requirements of the standard's carbon dioxide emissions targets.The bill also corrects the Ministry of Transport's inadvertent inclusion of mopeds and motorcycles in part of the requirements of the standard. Without this change importers of motorcycles and mopeds would need to unnecessarily hold carbon dioxide accounts and record emissions.The amendments in this bill seek to make it easier for the vehicle industry to comply with the clean vehicle standard.Hon David Bennett: What's the bill called?Hon Dr AYESHA VERRALL: Compliance is key to achieving emission reductions from the standard. I commend the Land Transport (Clean Vehicles) Amendment Bill (No 2) to the House.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): The question is that the motion be agreed to."