“Motorcycle importers are being forced to undergo more red tape and bureaucracy because Labour’s Clean Car Standard is so poorly designed,” says ACT’s Transport and Climate Change spokesperson Simon Court.

“Since motorcycles are covered by the “light vehicle” definition, importers will be required to set up a CO2 account with Customs to track emissions, even though motorcycles aren’t subject to any of the penalties or credits of the scheme.

“The Motor Industry Association (MIA) has asked for an amendment to the Act to ensure vehicles not included in the purpose of the Act are not subjected to pointless bureaucracy. They described it as:

“a pointless exercise and a mistake in the drafting of the Act which will put motorcycle importers to unnecessary extra work. What with the rollout of the Clean Car Discount causing issues for used car importers in particular, this mistake will create new problems for both new and used motorcycle importers, and other vehicles which are also meant to be exempt, like Special Interest Vehicles or low volume vehicles. It’s another illustration that this is a government of mistakes.”

“ACT opposed the legislation because it does not reduce emissions and would add complex red tape and costs to consumers.

“On top of being an ineffective waste of taxpayers’ money, the policy is just adding more red tape and regulations on Kiwi businesses who are already grappling with a cost of living crisis and another $450m public holiday being inflicted upon them.

“ACT would get rid of this legislation altogether. Labour’s attention seeking climate policies are not reducing emissions and have contributed to a 29.5 per cent increase in burning coal to generate electricity.

“The Emissions Trading Scheme is our primary response to climate change. It puts a price on emissions and encourages businesses to reduce their emissions in the most cost-effective way. ACT says we should set a cap on total emissions in line with the actual reductions of our trading partners, then allow New Zealanders to import high quality foreign carbon credits so we pay the world price, not an artificial price.

“ACT stands for real change in our climate policy, ensuring it is practical, effective, and not going to make life harder for New Zealanders.”


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