Beaumont Carol: Land Transport Amendment Bill (No 4) — Referral of S.O.P. 10 to Transport and Industrial Relations Committee 
Beaumont Carol: Land Transport Amendment Bill (No 4) — Referral of S.O.P. 10 to Transport and Industrial Relations Committee 
[Volume:653;Page:2176] 
CAROL BEAUMONT (Labour) 
: 
 As my colleague Darren Hughes indicated we will be supporting this Supplementary Order Paper. It relates to some important issues that although of a technical nature none of us would like to see expire due to time constraints. 
As Mr Bennett started to mention Supplementary Order Paper 10 relates to a very important bill that explores important issues like drug-driving and the protection of personal information held on the motor vehicles register. Just to be clear though the Supplementary Order Paper itself proposes measures of a technical nature. We have been through what some of them are; some of them are very important matters like truck loading local authority traffic enforcement and enforcement of special vehicle land offences. 
Those matters will join the matters being considered by the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee on drug-driving and the protection of personal information held on the motor vehicles register. I thought it was worth taking time to mention a bit of information about those two areas because they are both very significant and are ones that people in this House should think about. The issues are quite complex and we are working very hard on them in the select committee; perhaps people might like to think about some guidance to members on these matters. First of all in the drug-driving area this bill will make it an offence to drive while impaired by illegal drugs. It will in fact create a compulsory roadside impairment test. That impairment test has been demonstrated in the select committee and I can tell members that it is quite hard to imagine getting through it sober let alone under the influence of illegal drugs. 
But seriously the pros of this bill are very important in relation to drug testing. The bill will improve road safety outcomes for all road users by deterring and sanctioning drug-impaired drivers. It is in line with international trends. It will raise awareness among the public about the risks of taking psychoactive drugs before or while driving. It will also reinforce community expectations about the responsibility of drivers not to drive when they are impaired by alcohol and/or drugs. In fact one of the things the select committee has had evidence on is how the combination of alcohol and drugs leads to far more significant road accidents than either one by itself. Of course if the matters before the select committee are not put in place some significant negatives will occur and that is that we will have to rely on the current provision of “incapable of proper control of vehicle“. That offence has a very high threshold in terms of what is meant by impairment. Many drug-drivers who are unsafe to drive will be able to continue to avoid prosecution as they are not at the extreme level of impairment that is required for the offence of “incapable”. In that case the status quo would have a very negative impact on road safety. 
That is the first part of the bill before the select committee that this Supplementary Order Paper will be joining. The second is in relation to the motor vehicles register. The motor vehicles register is important in relation to improving protection of personal information held on that register. The register is publicly available and under law any person may obtain the names and addresses of the present and previous owners of a motor vehicle simply by quoting its registration plate number. That information is available over the counter at post shops and other registration agencies and is of course open to abuse. There have been instances of people who feel angry about the behaviour of somebody else on the road getting that information and harassing that person and of professional car thieves who target high-value vehicles and use the register to find out where that car is kept. So it is a very significant matter as well. 
 I am sure that members on both sides of this House will support the general principles of the Land Transport Amendment Bill (No 4). We will be working very hard to deal with those very complex areas particularly with the drug-testing part. 
I will go back to the amendments that were put up today. They are of a technical nature and we have had assurances of that as Mr Hughes has already said. They seek to maintain the status quo effectively. We are supporting this Supplementary Order Paper but as an Auckland-based MP it would be remiss of me not to take this opportunity as we are talking about transport to express my opposition to the change in direction in transport policy announced by the National Government. 
We have gone from a situation where there is an agreed plan for Auckland transport with funding secured for all aspects of that plan via a regional fuel tax to a situation that means that certain key changes to public transport are now under threat such as new railway stations including the railway station in Onehunga where I am based; integrated ticketing; and new ferry terminals. The Minister provides no reassurance to those who are waiting for those changes—and people are certainly waiting I can tell members. The people of Onehunga are definitely waiting for their railway station. It is disingenuous and disrespectful to those Aucklanders to say their railway station may be funded by the Auckland Regional Council. One does not have to be a rocket scientist to see the financial position that that council is in at the moment. The railway station may be funded by the Auckland Regional Council or by the New Zealand Transport Agency. The MP for Maungakiekie Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga indicates that the funding is not secure and that projects like the Onehunga railway station will have to bid for that funding. I am not just making this up; I have had that acknowledged by the member. 
Onehunga is a very important area. It is seen as an area of Auckland that is a growth node and an area where perhaps there can be some intensification of housing and further development. It is important that part of that development includes the reopening of the Onehunga branch line. That is well under way but the problem is that one cannot use a railway line without a station. We need to make sure that this matter is resolved. I can certainly assure this House that there will be very very many angry residents if this important part of transport infrastructure for the people of Onehunga falls over because of the actions of this National Government. 
Although members on this side of the House will support this Supplementary Order Paper and will work hard in the select committee on the main bill I tell members that in relation to other directions of transport policy we will be trying to make sure that the Government does fund those things that the people of Auckland have long been waiting for and that it is pressured by the people of Auckland to do so.