Lee MelissaMELISSA LEE (National): I hope Dr Woods is actually feeling a little bit better than she was before.Dr Megan Woods: So do I. MELISSA LEE: You were coughing and I was a bit concerned about you. I have to say that was a pretty good effort considering but in that 10 minutes I am not so sure whether I actually heard any solutions that she was actually talking about—but good effort.It is a great opportunity to take a call on the third reading of the Energy Innovation (Electric Vehicles and Other Matters) Amendment Bill. I would like to pay tribute to the important work the Hon Simon Bridges Minister of Transport and the Hon Judith Collins Minister of Energy and Resources have done towards this important bill which will support the greater uptake of innovative new electric vehicles around New Zealand. Thank you also to my parliamentary colleagues across the House who have worked very diligently to bring this bill back to the House. While it was before the Commerce Committee I have to also say we worked very well together and I would like to thank the secretariat and the advisers who have guided us through the process.The Energy Innovation (Electric Vehicles and Other Matters) Amendment Bill is actually an omnibus bill that will amend several Acts of Parliament to encourage energy innovation and the uptake of new energy technologies support all New Zealand families and businesses to embrace 21st century technology and support New Zealand in responding to its environmental and energy objectives. While this bill was before the Commerce Committee we had 40 written and 11 oral submissions on the merits of the legislation with submitters including Auckland Transport the Electricity Retailers' Association of New Zealand and the Motor Industry Association and I thank those organisations for their advice and their careful consideration. The committee proposed a number of changes to the Energy Innovation (Electric Vehicles and Other Matters) Amendment Bill to better ensure its purpose. These included clarifying the definition of secondary network provider" to better match the policy intent of the bill which the Minister of Energy and Resources actually talked about earlier; amending the Land Transport Act to permit images taken by approved vehicle surveillance equipment to be evidence of the unauthorised use of special vehicle lanes; supporting Orders in Council to exempt road-user charges for a time when the Minister is satisfied that may encourage the uptake of heavy electric vehicles; and amending the Energy (Fuels Levies and References) Act of 1989 to allow regulations to be made to provide exemptions from the gas levy and place liability for the gas levy solely where the gas is sold by the retailer.The National Government has been a leader in ensuring New Zealand meets our international targets for climate change and protecting the environment and in encouraging innovative new technologies and their uptake among Kiwi families and businesses. As a country as a nation as Kiwis we believe in the "clean green" Kiwi image and a key way to continue the growth of this brand is to promote the uptake of electric vehicles and develop energy efficiency across commercial sectors through practical policies that work for those businesses and Government without an undue burden on the nation. Across the world and across New Zealand we are embracing innovation and the uptake of new technology is one way of achieving that. Whether this is in the work of entrepreneurs out in Māhia Peninsula with Rocket Lab or the work of local Kiwis buying a top-end Tesla or family-style Nissan Leaf we are still a country that continues to be at the forefront of embracing new ideas and new opportunities and supporting new aspirations not just of this generation but of the ones to come as well. New Zealand will always be a great environmentally friendly country and a country friendly to business. The Energy Innovation (Electric Vehicles and Other Matters) Amendment Bill will help continue to support our way of doing things.Talking about our way of doing things I have to actually say that the secret to our America's Cup win apparently was a surfboard maker. I think this kind of innovation that Kiwis are so good at is in this as well. I hope that more people will take up energy-efficient electric vehicles and I hope that people are encouraged by this legislation to do so. It is a good bill and I commend it to the House."