Faafoi Kris: Land Transport (Road Safety and Other Matters) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Faafoi Kris: Land Transport (Road Safety and Other Matters) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:671;Page:18037] 
KRIS FAAFOI (Labour—Mana) 
: 
 Thank you very much Mr Chair for the opportunity to speak on the Land Transport (Road Safety and Other Matters) Amendment Bill. I will start by saying that although Labour supports the bill we have already made it clear that there are a number of areas where we think it lacks teeth. Make no mistake; we will support the bill. We support measures such as the zero limit for repeat drink-drivers. That is a no-brainer. We support having a zero limit for drivers under 20 as the Minister in the chair the Minister of Transport pointed out to send a strong signal to those younger drivers to not drink at all if they are planning to get behind the wheel. We also support the interlocks. Using technology to make sure we can crack down on repeat drink-drivers is another good measure in the bill as is making sure we get tougher on recidivist drink-drivers by doubling the minimum prison time for drunk and drugged reckless driving causing death. 
As I mentioned earlier a number of my colleagues have already mentioned a couple of areas where we think the bill comes short of the mark. The obvious issue we have put attention on in the Committee today is the failure of the Government to recognise that there is a large amount of public support for reducing the blood-alcohol content level from 0.08 to 0.05. 
The Land Transport (Road Safety and Other Matters) Amendment Bill is an appropriate title for this bill. I went looking for a measure that would take strong action to lower the blood-alcohol level from 0.08 to 0.05. It was not in the road safety measures or in the other provisions and we believe that it should have been especially at a time when the Minister had the opportunity for cross-party support late last year with the member’s bill that Darren Hughes put forward. We would have got broad cross-party support to make sure we could take real measures to reduce the number of alcohol-related deaths on our roads. That was a lost opportunity. What did we get? We got another 2-year study to look at the effect on drivers who are found to have a blood-alcohol level of between 0.08 and 0.05. As Gareth Hughes mentioned before studies over a number of decades plainly show that if we send a signal to the public that we will not tolerate that level of alcohol in drivers’ systems then the number of deaths on our roads will reduce. What do we have? We have 2 more years of stalling. 
Before I hear a barrage of heckling that Labour did not do anything in the 9 years it was in Government I say that we are in the here and now. We have the opportunity to look forward. We had an opportunity for cross-party support. We have a bill before us that we support as I said but we also have a lost opportunity to take real action on the roads. Unfortunately instead of taking pragmatic action we have politics. From a Minister who cares about optics we have no action. 
The issue is really about what happens on our roads and the Minister has already talked about his own personal experience. He said that it is just ridiculous that he can drink three-quarters of a bottle of wine and still be able to legally get out there on the road. Most New Zealanders think that too. It is a shame the Minister does not have the courage of his personal convictions— 
The CHAIRPERSON (H V Ross Robertson) 
: The member cannot challenge a member’s courage; that is a personal reflection. The member will withdraw and apologise. 
KRIS FAAFOI 
: I withdraw and apologise. It is a shame that the personal opinion of the Minister is not reflected in this bill. 
As we have said this is about a priority. We have an opportunity with the bill in front of us now. The priority is—and there is plenty of media coverage about this—that New Zealanders do want the blood-alcohol level to be reduced. Some research from UMR Research in the  
New Zealand Herald  
on 19 May found that 70 percent of respondents supported lowering the allowable level of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood to 50 milligrams. Again in the  
Otago Daily Times 
 on 9 April 2010 a poll of 500 people found that 63 percent supported the lowering of the adult blood-alcohol limit from 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood to 50 milligrams. That poll also found that 84 percent were in favour of having a zero blood-alcohol limit for drivers under 20. Here is another statistic that may be of interest to members from Hamilton: in a poll of 418 Hamilton people conducted by researchers for the  
Waikato Times 
 on 1 September— 
Sue Moroney 
: Very good city. 
KRIS FAAFOI 
: —ha ha—68 percent of people said that they were in favour of lowering the blood-alcohol limit. Let us also go to the  
Timaru Herald 
 on 27 July last year—