Hudson BrettBRETT HUDSON (National): Thank you Madam Chair. Thank you very much for the call. I want to speak on my amendment on this part one which is all targeted at improving public confidence in the applicability and administration of the regional fuel tax. I think there are some deficiencies there that this amendment would certainly help. This is a very serious business permitting regional councils in effect to levy a tax to apply on large-scale roading or transport infrastructure projects. It's a big deal. What is more it is a much bigger deal than the public were led to believe. As the Government was muttering and murmuring about this prospective tax they were talking all about Auckland but it turned out as the bill was introduced that this actually permits a regional authority in any part of New Zealand to apply to levy a regional fuel tax; they just can't actually levy it until 1 January 2021.So it's a big deal. Because of that I think it's appropriate that we look to strengthen the public's confidence that if regional councils get the tax it will be applied correctly it'll be administered correctly and any probity issues that could potentially appear could be caught because this will not just be Auckland. In fact it won't even just be Auckland Christchurch and Wellington. The Minister Phil Twyford last night in a contribution claimed that National was scaremongering about a contagion and that this would spread like wildfire around the country. He said we were scaremongering.CHAIRPERSON (Poto Williams): Order! Order! I just want to remind the member and remind members that there have been lots of repetition of arguments so I want you to present new arguments in this debate.BRETT HUDSON: I am Madam Chair. I'm just seeking to establish why I think it is important.CHAIRPERSON (Poto Williams): Right. We don't need for the establishment of why; we just need the argument thank you.BRETT HUDSON: Very well Madam Chair.CHAIRPERSON (Poto Williams): We have all been listening to this debate for the last couple of sessions.BRETT HUDSON: So my amendment requires that the Auditor-General under the Public Audit Act 2001 must—must—undertake a performance audit at least one year after the establishment of any regional fuel tax scheme under Subpart 3 of the Land Transport Management Act 2003" on any of those 14 or more regions those 14 that have already signalled that they want a piece of this.The first part of the audit is fundamentally a performance audit. That's the part which is ensuring that the relevant public entities are acting effectively and efficiently under the provisions of that Subpart 3. But it goes further: it also checks to ensure under the audit that the public entity is complying with all of its statutory obligations under that subpart. It goes further again and this leads to particularly a cost-effectiveness or a cost efficiency. It also seeks to establish or identify "any act or omission of a public entity in order to determine whether waste has resulted or may have resulted or may result in relation to [the] functions under subpart 3 of the Land Transport Management Act 2003:".Equally importantly—actually I would argue perhaps even more importantly—subclause (1)(d) of my amendment says "any act or omission showing or appearing to show a lack of probity or financial prudence by a public entity or 1 or more of its members office holders and employees under subpart 3 of the Land Transport Management Act". As the bill exists at the moment it focuses in terms of its concern around the administration of the tax simply on determining an assessment of whether or not someone has avoided or evaded paying the tax. It doesn't have a provision about the people who are actually administering the tax.Now it is true that the Minister could argue that they would already come under the ambit of the Public Audit Act 2001 as it stands. That is true but my amendment goes further in the extent that it requires that the Auditor-General may undertake that audit within one year. It also looks at the performance including cost-effectiveness and cost efficiencies and the probity and actions of the entity and its employees. This will strengthen public confidence in the bill Minister. I recommend you take it up."