Close election leaves question around transport minister  

As expected, the election was very close, and a lot of uncertainty remains. What is certain is that with Chris Bishop having lost his electorate seat, there will be a new Minister of Transport. 

Earlier in my career at the Ministry of Transport I was lucky to give advice to a number of Ministers. One thing that struck me from the get-go was the complexity of the issues and the volume of work they deal with. As with other Ministers, I think Bishop genuinely wanted to make a difference in transport and he worked incredibly hard. Regardless that we would’ve liked to see him deliver more, we are grateful and appreciative of what he did and wish him well in his future.

We go to great lengths to ensure we remain apolitical, and that includes having met with several potential ministers across all the key parties over the last couple of years. Chances are we’ve already had discussions with the new Minister – but we’ll wait and see. 

Focusing on what matters  

NZTA sought our view on the development of a heavy vehicle safety rating system similar to ANCAP, the star rating system for safety performance of cars. Europe now has Euro NCAP Truck Safe which is based predominantly around elements such as driver visibility, ESC, ABS, AEB etc, rather than occupant protection which was the main focus of ANCAP.         

According to the proposers, the rationale for this idea is that without an incentive, manufacturers are unlikely to provide vehicles with higher safety specifications.  

The proposal is somewhat interesting given it comes only several weeks after Associate Transport Minister, James Meager decided not to progress with an earlier proposal to mandate features like these on trucks. Furthermore, according to NZTA’s estimates and our own member survey, the fitting of these safety systems is not that uncommon.        

Bearing in mind how tight things are, we think NZTA’s focus should be on investing in areas of risk and initiatives with good return. We do not believe NZTA should be investing in or supporting the development of an Australasian equivalent to Euro NCAP Truck Safe given the subtle technical nuances between vehicles within the same star ratings. A new or alternative system is highly unlikely to add much more value in terms of uptake of ADAS across the New Zealand heavy goods vehicle fleet, nor will it enable our members to make better procurement decisions.  

Rogue operators 

What we’d prefer NZTA to focus on is rogue operators. Our members shouldn’t be having to compete with operators that aren’t paying their road taxes, such as RUC and tolls. 

Under the Official Information Act we sought the value of bad debts written off by NZTA broken down by revenue source. Our analysis shows that debt is increasing and that’s a worry, particularly given the plan to move to universal RUC.  

Given the reducing relative demand on petrol as the light fleet changes to lower emission vehicles, we support a system change such as universal RUC, but it’ll be key that the system is fair and has high integrity. In essence, operators getting away without paying RUC are getting about a 10% discount on their rates. This means they can undercut our members who are playing within the rules.  

That’s a massive advantage, and chances are those rogue operators are also underpaying investment in repairs and maintenance, insurance, and safety.    

During our Sector Group meeting last week, we heard increasing concern that AI is making TSLs even easier to get.        

We believe NZTA, as the system regulator and granter of licences, needs to shift more of its efforts into stopping new operators entering our industry unless it is confident they will be compliant with the rules and safely manage their operations. That’s what we think is fit and proper. We’ll be advocating even harder for this to happen, so watch this space.  

Improving fuel resilience   

Several weeks ago, MBIE consulted us on extending the temporary regulations for accepting Australian fuel specifications, and we recommended that be done. Joint Ministers have agreed to an extension through to 31 December 2028 and once the new government has been formed, we hope this will quickly get Cabinet sign-off.  

New Board members   

At last week’s AGM, the terms of Board members Brett Hamilton and Greg Pert ended. Both have been Board members since I started here.  

The industry and its representation has changed dramatically over a relatively short period, as has our organisation. The latter changes demonstrate some of the strategic leadership that Brett and Greg brought, and they were always incredibly supportive of any changes I sought. I’ve hugely valued their energy, commitment and input, and hope they both get some well-earned rest. 

On the flipside, I welcome Bill Bamber and Gareth Pert joining our Board.