Motor Vehicle Sales Amendment Bill

Hon TREVOR MALLARD Link to this

Well, it was based heavily on discussions that the member has had privately and publicly about the things that are hot and the things that are not. In this particular case, it has become clear that that member is cougar bait. He is bait for a cougar. I am very, very surprised that when there was a discussion about his favourite cars he did not promote the Cougar in the way that he appears to promote it in its Wellington form, as opposed to its United States form.

I had forgotten about Mercury Cougars. I was never a great expert on cars, but I spent a bit of time looking them up on the Internet. Do members know the problem with a Mercury Cougar? The problem, as far as Simon Bridges is concerned, is that it is a two-seater. It is a coupé. It is not particularly useful for the sort of activity the member was contemplating in his discussions with a number of people about things that are hot and things that are not. [Interruption] Does the member want examples of cars that I have had? I have had a wide variety of cars, none of them particularly flash. I am not sure anything other than the old Monaro—

Hon TREVOR MALLARD Link to this

The red van, I understand, is one of two Volkswagen Caddies in the country. I have an absolute assurance from the licensed motor vehicle dealer, who has since gone broke, that this particular one was imported entirely by accident. He did not know. He knew he was getting a Volkswagen van, but did not understand about Caddies. He brought it in from Singapore. It is actually useful, because it can take three bikes in the back. I very rarely want to have more than three bikes in the back of my van. Because, like the member’s Mercury Cougar, there are only two seats in the front, three bikes is generally around the limit.

Does Mr Quinn have any other questions about the van? It is well marked up; it is well known around the Hutt. People think it is—

Hon TREVOR MALLARD Link to this

That is not true. I drive it back and forth to work every day.

Hon TREVOR MALLARD Link to this

If the member went to the Hutt Valley occasionally and observed cars out there, he would see that—

Hon TREVOR MALLARD Link to this

Were you out there today?

Hon TREVOR MALLARD Link to this

The member was out there yesterday. Well, I was out there all day yesterday, mainly in Pētone and Naenae. I did not see him, but then no one notices Paul Quinn. Well, that is not entirely true. They notice him, but if he is around a corner they disappear pretty quickly because they hear him coming. They hear him coming and they take off. I heard that the member has an office. But when is his office ever open? I have been sending everyone who says to me that I cannot help them, but asks whether the Government could help them—

Hon TREVOR MALLARD Link to this

I am not going to dispute your ruling, Mr Assistant Speaker, but I think a discussion around the relative merits of Mercury Cougars and Volkswagen Caddies is quite relevant to the bill, especially when one goes to the fact that some licensed motor vehicle dealers—in fact, a lot of them in Wellington—have gone broke, and when this legislation passes into law some people who should not be in business will not be in business.

It is a good bit of legislation—most of it. The amendment to the Act means that it will become more obvious that crooks—the people who should be banned—are banned under this legislation. There is also a further requirement to put the consumer information notices, or CIN notices—something that Mr Bridges might know about as well—in the windows of the cars, or, at least, to attach them to the vehicles. That will also be useful. The bill gives additional powers to the registrar. In fact, it gives powers that I am quite surprised the registrar did not have already. None of it is illogical; it will help get the industry into line. But if there is one thing that I will remember this debate for, it was the timely interjection of Mr Bridges last week.

TE URUROA FLAVELL Link to this

In the Reader’s Digest survey—that is right—of the most trusted professions for 2009, car salesmen were rated 38 out of 40 professions. Only sex workers and telemarketers were rated lower. Politicians, however, scored a much more positive rating of, not quite as low as 38 or 39, but 37. So we did all right.

There is another important association between politicians and car traders. I am told that the very first cars in New Zealand arrived in 1898 when a member of Parliament by the name of William McLean, who is well known in Māori circles, and an engineer by the name of Edward Seager imported two Benz automobiles from France. Under the law at the time, the cars had to be treated like traction engines, travelling at a walking pace with men walking ahead and behind. But to overcome that problem, William McLean sponsored a new Act of Parliament. It was called the McLean Motor-car Act 1898, if members did not know that. The new Act specified, I say for the member’s information, a speed limit of a massive 12 miles per hour. A century later here we are. We could be considering the “Heather Roy Motor-car Bill” of 2009. Instead, this bill aims to promote and protect car buyers.

TE URUROA FLAVELL Link to this

No, not sex workers. It is an interesting aim, one might say, in the context of the perceptions of New Zealanders in respect of the levels of trust that one can expect from the profession.

My understanding is that the Motor Vehicle Sales Amendment Bill would protect car buyers in a number of ways. The bill amends the process for motor vehicle traders to renew their annual registration, making it quicker and simpler, and thereby reducing compliance costs. It adds a new obligation on trading companies to notify the registrar if a new person becomes involved in the management of the company.

TE URUROA FLAVELL Link to this

That is right. Many of the changes proposed in the bill are to improve the operations of the Motor Vehicle Sales Act 2003. That Act introduced a new registration regime for car traders, and new disclosure requirements for used cars. It also established the Motor Vehicle Disputes Tribunal to hear consumer complaints against traders. This new bill, the Heather Roy bill, in effect refines the processes introduced 6 years earlier, and tries to improve upon them. The bill requires that car market operators take reasonable steps to ensure used-car traders display the consumer information notice, and, as other members have talked about, the bill removes car market operators from the definition of motor vehicle traders if they provide only a car sales venue and do not sell cars themselves. All of these steps, we hope, will achieve much needed improvements to protect the safety of car buyers and increase the transparency of transactions between buyers and sellers. The Māori Party has two important points that we want to bring to the discussion. The first point is that overall the number of cars in New Zealand has dropped. New car sales have decreased in number and value, both of which impact on the car sales industry.

TE URUROA FLAVELL Link to this

Not quite. There has been a 28.7 percent decrease in new-car sales in New Zealand between 2005 and 2008. On the profit side, there has been a 17.4 percent decrease in car sales value over the last year. That means that the general age of cars used in New Zealand has declined, dropping from an average of 11.28 years in 1999 to the highest yet average of 12.55 years in 2008. Those are all relevant statistics. The need for appropriate practices and transparencies in the interactions New Zealanders will have with used-car traders is, therefore, even more important, as more and more older cars come on to the market. The consequences of the shift are obviously significant when we consider energy efficiency, as discussed in the bill concerning climate change, which was debated prior to this one. Newer cars are generally more efficient and emit fewer emissions due to engineering improvements. We believe, therefore, that additional consideration could be given to the introduction of a fuel efficiency emissions standards regime as part of the buying and selling of motor vehicles, particularly given that the mean age of cars in New Zealand continues to rise. We support any intervention that will improve vehicle fuel efficiencies and reduce emissions.

The policy issue that we hope officials give further thought to relates to cost-benefit arguments around new versus second-hand cars, which Mr Harawira has quite a lot of. Older vehicles tend to have higher exhaust emissions of harmful pollutants—again, the honourable member Mr Harawira is well aware of that—such as carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons. This is partly due not only to the deterioration of the engine’s efficiency, as we know, but also to the older technology used in earlier engine designs. Older vehicles may also have poor efficiency, and, therefore, create more greenhouse gas emissions for each kilometre travelled than similar new vehicles. All of this needs consideration.

In closing, I say that the second big issue for the Māori Party is the removal of the requirements for private sellers to display the consumer information notice. The Māori Party questions whether this move may raise concern with safety issues in the Heather Roy bill. We will be interested to learn the views of the Minister of Consumer Affairs about this particular amendment bill, given that there is a pretty comprehensive review under way of the consumer information notice. Perhaps this amendment may be put on hold pending completion of the review. Despite the barracking from my colleague Hone Harawira tonight, there are some important issues emerging from this “Heather Roy Motor-car Bill” of 2009. Such issues relate to transparency and the need to decrease oil dependency in the face of peak oil and efforts to reduce emissions. There are substantive issues requiring further work, but despite all of that, the Māori Party will certainly support this bill through the first reading in order for that further work to be done. Kia ora tātou.