Terry Leach: Motorbike Advocacy Group New Zealand spokesperson on the "inequitable" ACC levy increase for motorcyclists

Motorcyclists are calling the latest ACC levy increase “punitive and inequitable,” as they set to increase by 80% over the next three years.

The levies will rise to $532.

Motorbike Advocacy Group New Zealand spokesperson Terry Leach said the group has lodged a complaint to the human rights commission.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Staying on the roads. Motorcyclists are revving mad, with the
latest acc levy increase shooting up eighty percent over the
next three years. It's been announced motorbikes currently set it
around two hundred and ninety seven dollars a year that
will soon jump to five hundred and thirty two dollars.
The Motorcycle Advocacy Group New Zealand have logged a lodged
a complaint, i should say, with the Human Rights Commission,

(00:21):
stating that the costs are unfair compared to that of
private motor vehicles like cars. Terry Leach is the spokesperson
for the advacy group, is with us this afternoon. Terry
good a, welcome to the show. You feel a bit
hard done by here, and I can see why when
you look at the numbers. I mean that's quite eyewatering.
Do you think that's enough to put people off riding motorbikes?

Speaker 2 (00:43):
Well, I that's a sixty sort of a question. Well,
you already have a situation where acclevs for a motorcycle
and as have been quite high for quite some time,
and on talking decades in particular, they shot up to
quite a high base basically will be in twenty ten
when Nick Smith was the a SEC Minister that if

(01:07):
you remember that stage six thousand angry motorcyclests descended on
Wellington and what was known as the Beak or to
register their anger, and we are here. We are again.
It's just more of the same.

Speaker 1 (01:20):
But there's a reason they're doing it, right, It's because
you guys have more accidents and cost them more money.

Speaker 2 (01:26):
Well, it's not that we have more accidents, it's just
that when we do have an accident, we're more vulnerable.
But just coming back to your original question, the way
that motorcyclists have been were motorcycle owners have been reacting
to these high fees in the past, we will just

(01:47):
now be amplified. And it's a it's a bit of
a counterintuitive move on the governments. But what happens is
is motorcyclists have got the opportunity of what they call
Red's commonly known as red joel on hold, which means
that if you're not using your motorcycle or if you

(02:07):
basically want to save yourself some money, you can put
your registration on hold.

Speaker 1 (02:16):
So thet we take them off that road, But can
we can well technically yeah, okay, Terry. Here's the problem.
Motorcycles account for less than one percent of vehicle kilometers
traveled on New Zealand roads, but twenty percent of serious
injuries from the crashes. I'm looking at the claims data.
You've got four more than four thousand claims last year
from motorcyclists, nineteen thousand for cars. There are thirty six

(02:40):
thousand motorcycles on the road and four million cars.

Speaker 2 (02:45):
Yep. Look, this is a statistic rich topic. And let
me just throw another one at you there. And this
is one reason why motorcyclist feel a little bit hard
done by the heavy goods vehicle or truck fleet in
New Zealand, and talking vehicles for trucks over three thousand

(03:05):
and five one hundred kgs. They travel for the six
percent of the nation's fleets total mileage per year. Those
trucks are involved and not necessarily the cause of, but
involved in eighteen percent of all fatal accidents in New Zealand,
which is quite staggerd it's about I think it's about

(03:26):
eighty deaths per year.

Speaker 1 (03:28):
We can't, I guess we can't take trucks off the road, though,
can we? Because they can.

Speaker 2 (03:32):
Nothing like it. Here's the NUB. How much do you
think you will cost you a register of truck? We'll
tell you the most your pay is two hundred and
sixty two dollars in terms of ACC fee. But how much?

Speaker 1 (03:49):
The question is not how many accidents are they having?
It's how many claims are they making a truck driver
is making after an accident. You know that that's the
relevant piece of information, isn't it? Because because that's what
ACC is looking at is how much is it costing us?
And motorcyclist as you say, they are more vulnerable on
the road, which means they get hurt, which means it

(04:09):
costs ACC. And ACC is a user pays system and
you're the user.

Speaker 2 (04:14):
Yeah, well that's that's part and paths. I mean, ever
since ninety ninety two when Bill Birch basically converted the
ACC from a compensation scheme to a insurance based model, yeah,
premium will lev's have been on a risk based assessment.
And that's that's fine, But part of the ACC Act

(04:37):
says that levis have to be fair. Now Here, here's
the NUB roughly one hundred and thirty five dollars to
register your your private motor car at the moment, that'll
go up to somewhere between one hundred and thirty eight
one hundred and sixty five dollars once all the other

(05:00):
little that's sortvery feasible. The entry years.

Speaker 1 (05:03):
Time, the increase is nowhere near the same as the motorbikes,
is what you're saying.

Speaker 2 (05:09):
Yep, and so so you're saying that's not fair.

Speaker 1 (05:12):
That's not fair to you guys, that's not fair.

Speaker 2 (05:14):
Well, yeah, one hundred and seventy dollars to register seven
fifty c C motorcycle, one hundred and forty odd dollars
to register your car. It's some disparity.

Speaker 1 (05:24):
Yeah, certainly, it certainly has. Terry, I can understand why
you are upset.

Speaker 2 (05:28):
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