Chris Bishop: Transport Minister on the Government looking into changing the Warrant of Fitness system

The Government's pushing ahead on updating land transport rules - kicking off public consultation today.

It's considering simplifying heavy vehicle permits, and adding safety features like Automatic Emergency Braking.

It'll also look at inspection rules for passenger vehicles like taxis and rentals, and lighter-vehicle Warrant of Fitness checks.

Transport Minister Chris Bishop says these changes will hopefully reduce costs for drivers, but also keep people safe on the road.

"In some places, you don't even have to have a regular inspection at all. The reality is, cars are safer than they've ever been, and technology has advanced."

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
I have got some good news for you if you're
a motorist. One of your more annoying annual tasks, and
let's be honest, expensive annual tasks may now only happen
every two years. The government is opening consultation on whether
to extend the warrant of fitness for light vehicles to
two years instead of the one that we do at
the moment. New vehicles may not even need a waft
until they're four years old. Chris Bishop is the Transport

(00:21):
Minister behind this and is with us High Bish Gooday.
Is this safe?

Speaker 2 (00:26):
Yes? It is. We make in New Zealand we make
people get their vehicles checked more than almost any other
country in the western world. So I'm just looking at
a table in front of me. Mostly it's two years.
So you look at Japan, we make people do it
every two years, Germany, Norway, Denmark, Sweden is the same,
Ireland as the same some places you don't even have

(00:48):
to have a regular inspection at all. The reality is
cars are safer than they've ever been, you know, as
technology has advanced, and so this is about making sure
you can reduce the cost of living for people. But
also people say from.

Speaker 1 (01:00):
The right their fleet's as old as ours.

Speaker 2 (01:03):
So our vehicle fleet is older than other places, and
that's why we're consulting on getting the balance right. So
what we're proposing is that for new vehicles, you would
your first waft would be valid for four years, and
then for vehicles that are between four and ten years old,
you'd get a waft every two years. And then if
you've got a vehicle over ten years old, you'd still
need a waft every year. So I think I think

(01:24):
that strikes about the right balance.

Speaker 1 (01:26):
What was it before? It wasn't that long ago that
it was every six months, wasn't it?

Speaker 2 (01:30):
Yeah, it was six months. I'd have to go back
and check exactly when that changed. From memory, it was
back maybe about ten years ago, I think from memory.

Speaker 1 (01:37):
Now it's just recently from that, wasn't it?

Speaker 2 (01:40):
Well, you could be right hither certainly I remember doing it.

Speaker 1 (01:43):
Put it that way, So yes, jeez, I mean, if
we go if we go to four years, it really
does make this every six months look like wildly excessive,
doesn't it?

Speaker 2 (01:52):
Well? Be valid be four years for your first waft
and then two years after that, but I mean it's
super annoying, right, you're going to get fifty to seventy
five dollars, you've got to find the time. And I'd
always sense to come around at the wrong time. My
wife's always you know, sort of January two, nothing's open.
You've got to go out and get your wife, you know,
and then it's annoying.

Speaker 1 (02:10):
I mean, didn't you that's your life decision that made
it January two?

Speaker 2 (02:15):
Yeah, I know. But once you're in the once you're
on the cycle, you know, like that's when it is right.
Like it's because every twelve months, like by definition, so
every January three order it is. So you know, I
think this is about getting the balance right. We have
one of the most frequent inspection systems in the OECD,
and you know, the vehicle technologies advanced and make it if.

Speaker 1 (02:34):
You decide to go for it. How quickly are we
doing this?

Speaker 2 (02:39):
We so the submissions are open now and they'll close
on Wednesday, since seventeen December, and then we'd hope to
make decisions early in twenty twenty six London and soon
after that, so it could be early to midnext year.

Speaker 1 (02:49):
It's a good life change ahead of the election. Listen,
have you seen this stuff about the Wellington City councilor
complaining because n z TA isn't telling Wellington City Council
what they're doing with the Mount VCT tunnel.

Speaker 2 (02:59):
Oh oh god, crimea river. I mean, seriously, it's a
state highway, like State Highway one goes through the middle
of Wellington Mount Victoria and the terrorists are part of
State Highway one, forty thousand vehicle movements each and every
day through the eastern suburbs, through the airport and all
the rest of it. We're consulting with the council obviously,
but it's a state highway, so you know, just willing

(03:19):
to see the council needs to get over themselves.

Speaker 1 (03:21):
Besh, Can I just ask you something, just as a
senior minister did yesterday after the capital gains tax thing
came out, did twenty twenty six feel just so much
more winnable to you guys?

Speaker 2 (03:32):
I've got to say it was quite good to you know,
have a bit of a fight frankly, you know, I
mean labor has been running this line for two years
that you know, if only we could just kind of
go back to the future and you know, just everything
would be better if they were back in charge without
any policy and you know that's an easy line to run.
You know, I've been there, done that. You criticize it.
Criticism is easy, right, but actually governing is about policies

(03:54):
and having a substantive thing to do and say the
reality is they haven't had anything because they've got no
brand new ie ideas. And then here we go and
you know, we're about a year out from the election
and it turns out they have some ideas and it's
just more of the same from what we had before.
More tax, more spend, more debt, dumb ideas that were
rejected in the past and got us into this mess
in the first place. And it has been quite good
to throw a few punches.

Speaker 1 (04:14):
Mind the leaks, but thanks very much, appreciate it. Chris Bishop,
Transport Minister. For more from Heather Duplessy Allen Drive, listen
live to news Talks. It'd be from four pm weekdays,
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