Duynhoven Harry: Land Transport Management Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
Duynhoven Harry: Land Transport Management Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
[Volume:648;Page:17199] 
Hon HARRY DUYNHOVEN (Minister for Transport Safety) 
: 
 I move  
That the Land Transport Management Amendment Bill be now read a third time 
. This bill involves major improvements for New Zealand’s land transport planning and funding system. The bill addresses the issues raised in a number of reviews into the land transport sector and aims at improving value for money. It also provides a mechanism for regions to accelerate capital works through a regional fuel tax if they wish to. There will be full hypothecation of fuel excise taxes for land transport purposes. Those taxes will be ring-fenced exclusively for land transport activities. 
For many years our land transport planning and funding system has been based on an annual cycle. The National Land Transport Programme will now need to be produced only every 3 years therefore reducing compliance costs and increasing certainty in the sector. The bill will enable provision for a 3-year Government policy statement that will provide strategic guidance in the spending of the National Land Transport Fund. 
The New Zealand Transport Agency which replaces the existing Crown entities Land Transport New Zealand and Transit New Zealand will give effect to the Government policy statement when it develops and manages each new 3-year National Land Transport Programme. Other approved organisations as specified in the bill will need to incorporate the statement into their decision making. The Minister of Transport will remain responsible for decisions around the allocation of the fund to New Zealand Police road safety activities based on recommendations developed by the New Zealand Transport Agency. 
The bill also provides for moneys from the National Land Transport Fund to be used for activities that benefit the users of pleasure craft as well as for search and rescue generally. This is in lieu of a refund of the petrol tax paid by recreational boaties. Might I add that I am delighted to see this move as it is something I have advocated for years and I am really pleased that the Minister has seen fit to include this in the bill. 
Under the bill regional land transport committees will be replaced by regional transport committees. These committees will have enhanced functions including the preparation of new 3-yearly regional land transport programmes and also regional fuel tax schemes if they wish to develop them. The 3-yearly regional land transport programmes will feed into a 3-yearly National Land Transport Programme. 
I am very pleased that this bill has inserted an express reference to rail and coastal shipping into the purpose section of the Land Transport Management Act. The bill ensures that the New Zealand Transport Agency is transparent and accountable given its role as funder and provider of some land transport activities. 
Finally the bill will allow regions to opt for a regional fuel tax to fund priority projects that cannot reasonably be funded from another source within the time frame wanted by that region. I confidently expect that crucial and critical projects such as the electrification of the Auckland rail network will be amongst the first to benefit. It will be up to each region to decide whether to introduce a regional fuel tax of up to 10c per litre with a maximum of 5c of that amount available for roading projects. The bill phases in the amounts of the tax that can be levied in 2009 and 2010 and includes a number of measures to ensure that a robust decision-making process will be followed before a regional fuel tax can be introduced. 
The measures set out in this bill will allow New Zealanders to have confidence that our land transport system is being planned and developed in a fully integrated manner for future generations. I am pleased to commend this bill to the House.