Guy Nathan: Road User Charges Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
Guy Nathan: Road User Charges Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
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Hon NATHAN GUY (Associate Minister of Transport) 
: 
 I move  
That the Road User Charges Amendment Bill be now read a third time 
. I thank members and officials for their work on this very important bill. The bill will achieve two things. Firstly it will enable the exemption of light electric motor vehicles from the requirement to pay road-user charges and secondly it will ensure adequate notice of road-user charge increases. 
Over the years motor vehicles have given New Zealanders opportunities to travel and travel more freely now than at any other time in the past and motor vehicles have brought huge improvements in economic growth and prosperity. However part of the price of that freedom has been a contribution to global climate change toxic emissions and indeed noise. These problems are not due to the roads or our motorists; rather they are due to the motors of our vehicles. Recent advances in vehicle technology will see zero-emission or very low-emission vehicles in our market as early as 2010. These new vehicles will be powered either wholly or partly by electricity. 
Electric vehicles are beneficial: while providing the choice of flexible and personalised transport they are more efficient and cheaper to run than conventional vehicles. They will reduce our need to import fossil fuels and when combined with smart metering technology will increase road and electricity security against energy disruptions. Electric vehicles release little or no toxic emissions and they have the potential to substantially reduce transport greenhouse gas emissions. 
This bill seeks to allow exemptions for owners of light electric motor vehicles from paying road-user charges. The 4c per kilometre saving would provide an incentive for those people who have bought light electric motor vehicles. The exemption is intended to operate until 2013 and is limited to light electric motor vehicles. In 2013 the exemption will cease and owners of light electric motor vehicles will revert to paying the full costs they impose on the roading network—an important principle of our road-funding system. 
The second important issue this bill addresses is the provision of notice for an increase to road-user charges. These charges are a significant cost to commercial transport operators. They are a tax and no reasonable Government would increase a tax overnight without warning. The bill proposes a very reasonable period of 6 weeks’ notice before these charges are increased; the possibility of Government revenue loss through large-scale pre-purchasing of road-user charges at cheaper rates is neatly averted. Road-user charge licences for heavy vehicles will expire 1 month after an increase comes into effect. Refunds of road-user charges for unused kilometres will be automatically provided at the time a new licence is purchased. No additional resources from Government or businesses will be required. The 400000 owners of light diesel motor vehicles will not be subject to the expiry provision. The lower cost of road-user charge licenses for these vehicles substantially reduces the incentive for large-scale pre-purchasing. 
Again I thank the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee and officials for the very prompt work on this bill. The bill will help to encourage light electric motor vehicles on to our roads which will lead to cleaner and quieter streets lower fuel bills and fewer greenhouse gases. The bill provides a transparent notification system for increases to road-user charges while safeguarding the Government’s revenue. This is a very good bill and I commend it to the House.