Henare Tau: Land Transport (Road Safety and Other Matters) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Henare Tau: Land Transport (Road Safety and Other Matters) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
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Hon TAU HENARE (National) 
: 
 This bill really should be called the “Recidivist Drink-driver We Are Going to Ping You Bill”. 
Darien Fenton 
: It’s your Government’s bill. 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: Well maybe it should be called the “We Are Here the Opposition Is There and We Will Get on with What We Were Elected to Do Bill”. Maybe it should be called the “We Didn’t Have 10 Years When We Sat on Our Backsides Doing Nothing; We Have Had Only 2 Years and Look Where We Are Now Bill”. The folly in what we have been hearing from Opposition members is that the bill does not fit with any one title that they have given us to debate. 
Really there are two issues. There is the issue of the recidivist drink-driver who continues to drink-drive maim hurt and in some cases kill. We are saying that we will target those people and that is what the title is all about. That is what the essence of the bill is all about. 
The bill is not designed for Kelvin Davis’ auntie who has the odd sherry wanders down Karetu Road and gets stopped by Paddy Whiu or whoever. 
Kelvin Davis 
: It’s square gin up there; that’s what they drink. 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: Well square gin then—I am sorry. In Motatau we do not do anything like that. Our drink is milk out of the cow. 
That is the folly in the argument of members opposite tonight. They say we are not doing anything for safety. 
Sue Moroney 
: You’ve got to listen to New Zealanders. You’re not listening. 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: Oh we listened. In fact the evidence shows that most of the people who are a danger to society fall into two categories. One— 
Hon Rick Barker 
: That’s an obscene sign. 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: Sorry. There are two categories. 
Hon Rick Barker 
: Are you in the Mongrel Mob? 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: No this is the sign of the Headhunters. One category of driver is the young person the new driver. There should be a zero alcohol limit—those people should not be allowed to drink and drive—yeah totally. 
Sue Moroney 
: Really? That’s a bit loony left isn’t it? 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: No it is not. Apparently the lady from Melville is saying that proposal is loony left but it is not really. 
The other category is the recidivist drink-driver. He is the one—and it is normally a he so I will use the generic— 
Hon Member 
: Sexist! 
Hon TAU HENARE 
: Well OK I am sorry. I belong to the National Party and not to the gaggle opposite. I apologise. Those are the two target areas that we are trying to fix up on the community’s behalf. That is what the bill should be called. It should be the “We Will Ping You If You Continue to Do Bad in Our Community Bill”. 
I have to say that I have heard some violent stories from Kelvin Davis and Kris Faafoi. They were heart-wrenching stories but I just cannot understand why those members were trying to blame the Minister of Transport for what happened to the people involved. That was the essence of their decision to use those two stories. I tell members this: maybe the people those members mentioned would be alive if the drivers who caused those accidents had been pinged a lot earlier. That is exactly what this bill does. 
This bill puts out there a safety net for our community—that is all. I have no problem standing in this Chamber tonight and saying that the existing title hits the nail dead smack on the head. Members opposite can get up and talk about what the title could be and what it might be in fantasyland but the reality is this: we won sit down move on and let us do what we were elected to do.