Hodgson Pete: Transport Legislation Bill — Instruction to Committee In Committee 
Hodgson Pete: Transport Legislation Bill — Instruction to Committee In Committee 
[Volume:621;Page:16916] 
Hon PETE HODGSON (Minister of Transport) 
: 
 I think that the member who just resumed her seat has raised some interesting issues. They are not entirely within the scope of Part 2 but if she is entitled to raise them it may not be a bad idea for me to respond to them.  
Part 2 is quite simple. Apart from the various schedules that some members seem to have read—which is always encouraging—it is primarily the part that dissolves Transfund New Zealand and the Land Transport Safety Authority. That means that both of those organisations move into a new organisation called Land Transport New Zealand although the policy functions revert to the Ministry of Transport. [ 
Interruption 
] The member wants to know when and the answer is 1 December. I hope that is helpful. 
The member also raised matters about vehicle emissions testing. That piece of work is being ably managed by my colleague the Associate Minister of Transport the Hon Judith Tizard and it is not for me to speak at great length about it. But I do just say that the status of emissions management in New Zealand through cars is probably the worst in the Western World. It is a matter of disgrace that it has not been addressed by successive Governments. 
One interesting little factoid that comes out of taking an integrated approach to transport is that if one looks at human health and safety instead of just safety one finds that a number of people are killed on our roads. I am afraid that the figure looks as if it will just exceed 400 this year—lower than last year and the second lowest figure for decades. So we have managed to take the blip out of the rise we saw a year ago. 
But interestingly about 400 people also die prematurely from air emissions—pollution—arising from transport. Those are not people with names and addresses. 
Deborah Coddington 
: That’s nonsense. Those are nonsense statistics. Are those scientifically based statistics? 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: Indeed they are. The member has decided to interject. Let me just jump down her throat a little and say that the difference between the two groups of figures is that one group has people’s names and addresses—and indeed those of their relatives and loved ones—and the other group is an epidemiological statistical derivation. But the statistics are still people. 
The fact of the matter is that we have paid careful attention to reducing the road toll—and good on us! It is now time for us to start to get on top of the damage that is caused to human health by emissions from motorcars. That is why we have begun the emissions— 
Sandra Goudie 
: Some of the speed policy is nuts. 
Hon PETE HODGSON 
: That may be but the fact of the matter—because the member raised the issue—is that this is the first Government through the good work of the Hon Judith Tizard to get on top of vehicle emissions. We are at the stage where just a couple of months ago in various parts of the country we have begun piloting so that we can get a look at what is coming out of the pipe now. 
A discussion paper will go out on Monday that will then get the public’s viewpoint on where we might set these standards and how often we might require cars to be tested and on whether for example pre-1980 vehicles should be counted. Those are things the member is welcome to offer her opinion on; we would look forward to it. 
Then progressively the Government’s vehicle emissions policy will be rolled out and we will start to pay attention to the statistical deaths of 400 people per annum in the same way that we pay careful attention to the actual deaths each year of people killed in accidents on the roads.