O'Connor GregGREG O'CONNOR (Labour—Ōhāriu): I was going to suggest that that speaker Simeon Brown get out more and if he were to do so he would understand that there is actually a war going on in Ukraine. It's a war that is actually impacting on most of the world and certainly impacting on the price of oil and that's really what we're here about today. As a Government that actually cares about the costs being imposed by that war and other issues like supply chain issues—and I'll also say that that member might remember that just as there's a shortage of container ships in the world there's a shortage of containers in the world all of which is bringing around the price rises that New Zealanders are facing. But actually what I should say at the same time I was going to suggest that that member get out more is he actually needs to stay in his office a little longer and read the bill because some of the actual points he brought up are addressed in the bill. Just before coming to speak here today I rang a contracting friend of mine who has got quite a big fleet of diesel vehicles. He was unaware of this legislation but he was quite pleasantly surprised although he was a little concerned that he had just purchased quite a few kilometres for various vehicles in his fleet—although those listening at home should know that you don't buy a bill or road-user charges or RUCs for your fleet. But you still have to buy them for individual vehicles although organisations try to get it so that they can get all of this done at the same time. I was able to reassure him that those miles that he'd already purchased that had built up he was going to be able to get an overlap licence for them and that is dealt with in the bill. So if he has 1000 kilometres in the bank so to speak for the period of this he can actually purchase new RUCs or road-user charges at the new fee or the new sum and so he—in his case it's a him—will not actually lose at all. So can I suggest to that member that some of his concerns may actually be alleviated were he to actually sit down and read the bill. This is actually also a bit of a catch-up and there are always catch-ups. One thing I do enjoy about being a member of Parliament is one learns about the systems. We dig down into how these things actually work. I was well aware of what RUCs were. In fact I recall being with a group of farmers and there was a young English farm worker who had come over. These farmers were discussing RUCs and the prices of them and he actually said Don't you guys talk about anything else but rugby?" So we actually had to point out to him that there were other things and that RUCs did have another meaning in New Zealand. This of course is quite appropriate because of course this is something that is going to really be an advantage to much of the rural sector many of whom do drive diesel vehicles and will actually get this discount. For those who are a little afraid that the previous reduction of 25c per litre in gas wasn't going to apply to them they can now be part of these reductions as well so they will actually be beneficiaries of that. Look this is a very good piece of legislation. It is a little more complicated because one thing is that it was relatively easy just to reduce the price of fuel at the pump by reducing the tax. It has been a lot more complicated and as the Minister of Transport pointed out in his speech there are different ways in which companies and individuals can pay their RUCs. So we had to make sure that they aligned so that there wasn't going to be an advantage to one particular group. In considering this there's also one group that's going to be quite interesting. As Waka Kotahi and those who administer this know there is quite an industry in winding back clocks or winding back the road-user charge mechanisms and I just wonder whether an unintended advantage of this is that those individuals who habitually wind back the clocks—some of them even wind them too far. I'm well aware of someone who wound his clock back beyond the price of the previous purchase which was pointed out to him by those selling the RUCs at the time. But I wondered whether an unintended consequence of this is that we may not have those wind-backs happening for at least the period of the three months. This is a very good piece of legislation. It does ensure the fairness that we on this side of the House are determined to bring about. It means that a section of our society bearing in mind that this also coincided with a reduction in public transport costs—the halving of public transport costs which of course ensures that those who don't have vehicles or who are not habitual vehicle users actually can be part of ensuring that this across-the-board decrease in the cost of living can be shared by all which again is another advantage of this related piece of legislation. So I have no hesitation in commending this bill to the House. Matt Doocey: Madam Speaker. ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jacqui Dean): Order! With apologies before I take the next speaker could any members who wish to join the debate remotely please seek a call by indicating that in the chat function. If members do that in good time then it does add to the proceedings of the House. Apologies for that."