Lee MelissaMELISSA LEE (National): I thank the member Stuart Nash who just took a seat for his support of this bill to the select committee. But I have to say that I find it rather ironic to actually get a lecture from the Opposition which cannot even do simple arithmetic on a policy that it announced over the weekend. Having said that I have to say that Mr Stuart Nash is probably better at maths than Phil Twyford is. It is a pleasure to take a call on the Energy Innovation (Electric Vehicles and Other Matters) Amendment Bill introduced by the Hon Simon Bridges today. This bill is an omnibus bill and it amends the Electricity Industry Act 2010 the Energy (Fuels Levies and References) Act 1989 the Land Transport Act 1998 and the Road User Charges Act 2012. This bill also implements the Government's electric vehicle programme (EVP). This is a comprehensive plan to ensure that New Zealand is able to meet its international commitments regarding climate change and that we can work to improve energy conservation and effectiveness in our transport sector. Positive gains can be made across New Zealand through the implementation of the EVP and through this legislation we can work together for the best opportunities on offer for the next generation. Innovation in energy use and better transport productivity are important for us. Better energy use means lower costs and overall better outcomes for Kiwi families. This can be achieved by measures that will support greater accessibility—accessibility to renewable energy resources—and reduce New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions. Although New Zealand should be very proud that we have a very high renewable energy source we can do more and become world leaders. Our legislation should be fit for purpose and support the future development of New Zealand's changing transport and energy environment. As the Minister outlined there are four measures in the bill which will be considered by the select committee. The first is that the bill will change how the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) is funded. Under EECA's current funding model almost half of its total funding is recovered from the electricity efficiency levy and can be spent only on electricity efficiency activities like the television ads. This bill will enable the cost of EECA's activities to be spread across a wider range and include the levies from transport fuels and gases alongside electricity. That would actually mean that we probably could do a lot more with the increase in the amount of money that we collect. It means that it probably will give more flexibility to EECA—how it can actually use its funds to support the promotion of things like low emission vehicles contestable funds. The second part of it is to allow electric vehicles to access the special vehicle lanes for example. This amendment will clarify that road-controlling authorities may use their by-law-making powers to create special access lanes in situations where they may wish to support a non-financial incentive such as other countries have actually used to increase the uptake of electric cars and other vehicles in their authority areas. I believe that the Minister mentioned Norway as well as California in his speech. The third measure is to allow exemptions to road-user charges as a stronger financial incentive for things like electric vehicle uptake where heavy duty vehicles such as electric trucks and buses would be exempted from such road-user charges for the benefit of increasing their numbers among the wider transport fleet until they actually reach about 2 percent of the heavy vehicle stock in New Zealand. The fourth and final main measure is that there needs to be clarification on how electricity industry regulation will apply to the secondary network—for example for people who generate their own power using batteries or using the sun and they could actually feed into the electricity network. This legislation may in fact support the growth of further innovation from consumers instead of just from the electricity generators. I believe that this bill is good for New Zealand and I look forward to the submissions process and the discussions that the select committee will have. It is a good bill and I commend it to the House.