12. Question No. 12—ACCHon TIM MACINDOE (National—Hamilton West) to the Minister for ACCQuestion No. 12—ACC12. Hon TIM MACINDOE (National—Hamilton West) to the Minister for ACC: Will 65 percent of vehicle owners pay more to register their cars next year including for some a 150 percent increase in the ACC levy due to his decision to dump the Vehicle Risk Rating programme?Hon IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY (Minister for ACC): Thank you Mr Speaker and I thank the member for his festive greetings and I return them. Unfortunately the member is incorrect. The Vehicle Risk Rating programme is not being dumped.Hon Tim Macindoe: Why then did the Minister answer questions in the House last Thursday indicating that it was being abandoned?Hon IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY: I did no such thing.Hon Tim Macindoe: Who in the motor vehicle industry expert group with whom he said he met during the levy consultation period expressly recommended or supported scrapping the Vehicle Risk Rating programme?Hon IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY: None of them.SPEAKER: The member has three more if he wishes.Hon Tim Macindoe: If the Minister did not indicate in the House last Thursday that the Vehicle Risk Rating programme was being scrapped and that that was not the meaning of the public releases that have gone out in his name and from his officials what was being abandoned and why will so many New Zealanders now face higher motor vehicle registration costs?Hon IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY: The member's on to it now. The Vehicle Risk Rating programme is not being dumped. Instead the information that it generates is going to be used in a much more effective manner by making that information available to people at the time they purchase their vehicle. It will no longer be applied to ACC motor vehicle levies. Hon Tim Macindoe: Why will it no longer be applied to ACC motor vehicle levies in view of the fact that the New Zealand Transport Agency is currently running a programme encouraging New Zealanders to invest in safer cars and that is clearly in the best interests of ensuring a safer national vehicle fleet?Hon IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY: Because there is absolutely no evidence that it encourages people to invest in safer cars.Hon Tim Macindoe: Will different ACC levies continue to apply based on the safety ratings of vehicles?Hon IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY: No.SPEAKER: The member still has two more. [Interruption] Order! Look some of us want to get home this year and if members on my immediate right keep it up we won't. Hon Tim Macindoe: Thank you Mr Speaker. My Christmases have come at once. To the Minister: how many New Zealanders face an increase in the cost of registering their vehicles next year because of changes in the ACC levy system?Hon IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY: Forty-three percent of levy payers will face an increase of $28.04 per annum; 25 percent of levy payers will face an increase of $8.82; 15 percent of levy payers will have a reduction of $7.49; and 17 percent of levy payers will have a reduction of $34.63. Hon Tim Macindoe: Has the Minister spoken to the Associate Minister of Transport about the clear contradiction in messages being sent by the answers that he's just given and the road safety programme for which she is responsible with the tagline The safer the car the safer they are"; and if so did she support his decision?Hon IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY: There is absolutely no contradiction. The safer the car the safer they are and that's why we're using the Vehicle Risk Rating programme to provide information at the time they purchase those vehicles. Merry Christmas.Rt Hon Winston Peters: Just to get this clear is it a fact that the numbers who are going to be paying a reduced levy and those who will be paying a much limited rise in the levy are far greater than those who are paying a significant increase in the levy?Hon IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY: Across the motor vehicle levy there is actually no change. Some people will pay more some people will pay less. It's a much fairer system and that's what we're creating. Hon Tim Macindoe: Why does the Minister consider that it sends a good message to New Zealanders who are being encouraged to invest in safer cars when if they do so they will now pay more in the motor vehicle registration fee?Hon IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY: If the member is seriously saying that people will pay tens of thousands of dollars more to purchase a safer vehicle in order to save $28 on their motor vehicle registration every year then the member has lost the plot.Hon Tim Macindoe: Ignoring the gratuitous flick. Does the Minister accept the fact that many people own more than one vehicle and therefore the charges they will face if they own late model high safety - rated vehicles are a significant increase and I ask him again: what message does he seriously think that that is sending to New Zealanders?Hon IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY: The message that it sends to New Zealanders is that we're going to provide useful information that they can actually use at the time they purchase their vehicle to help them make an informed choice so that they do buy a safer car for themselves and for their family. I can say that for those who are on lower incomes who own multiple older vehicles they are going to face an even bigger reduction in their levy."