Chris Bishop: Transport Minister on roadside drug testing, RMA reform

There's confidence roadside drug testing won't pick up prescription drugs. 

Legislation giving police powers to do random saliva tests has passed its third and final reading in Parliament. 

Police should be ready to use tests late this year. 

Transport Minister Chris Bishop told Mike Hosking there will be two tests at the roadside. 

He says it will be testing for cocaine, ecstasy, and marijuana. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Roadside drug testing has been passed into law. That was
the other law that got through its third reading yesterday.
Police we'll be able to undertake random roadsides to the liber tests.
Of course, there were a few concerns around the people
on the ADHD, anxiety, whatever sort of medicine. Transport Minister
Chris Bishop with this morning, good morning, this drug driving.
The level of difference you would expected to make. Is
this a game changer or just another tool in the toolbox.

Speaker 2 (00:23):
Well, it's a tool on this toolbox and I hope
it will make a difference over time. The police are
going to do about fifty thousand oral roadside fluid drug
tests per year. They've funded to do that when we've
instructed them to do that. It's another tool in the toolbox.
About thirty percent of deaths and serious injuries on our
roads are connected to drug use. It's actually quite a
high number when you think about it, and you know,
when you take a step back and you say, well,

(00:45):
we've had thirty years of blood alcohol testing, breath testing
which people are pretty familiar with, but controversial when it
first came in, but it's hard to imagine the roads
without it. Now I think we'll look back in five
to ten years and say, you know what, it was
pretty crazy that for a long time you could get high,
get behind the whet and you could never get caught
and there was no punishment for it.

Speaker 1 (01:02):
Yeah, I agree with that, But at most of the
problems of the canna do you talk of are they
drugs and drink related? In other words, if you get
the drink, you'll get the drugs. Or do people exclusively
take drugs and go drive.

Speaker 2 (01:12):
All the figures I've got are that that drugs and
alcohol are are, you know, combined the number one cause
of deaths and serious injuries and drugs are a big
part of that. And you know we're time to take action.
Parliament's had three three goes at this over the years,
you know, Julie Engin to trides do it nashtrite and
we think we've got it right now.

Speaker 1 (01:31):
The prescription drug aspect of it, people on ADHD or that,
do you wait that, do you give that some credence
or not?

Speaker 2 (01:39):
That the tests won't pack up for that stuff. So
it's it's testing for things like cocaine, ecstasy, marijuana, and
they've got some pretty sophisticated tests out there that other
jurisdictions use that we're hoping to use here where you
pick that stuff up and you know you would have
two tests at the roadside, and and you know then

(02:00):
if there's two tests that you fail, then you will
be banned from driving for twelve hours.

Speaker 1 (02:08):
While I've got you this k road building that you're
on about the other day, you are m a reform.
I note the Fed farmers are behind it, which is good.
But we had Hipkins on the program yesterday. I can't
work him out. He sounds like he wants to cooperate,
but I don't think he wants to cooperate at the
end of the day. Is cooperation going anywhere? Hand on heart,
do you reckon?

Speaker 2 (02:25):
Yes? It is. I've written to Labor and the Greens
and I've said lot in good faith, let's sit down
and work together. Now we have election commitments around, you know,
making it easier to farm, get well in and out
of farming. We're not going to compromise on those. But
you know RMA reforms think right. This devil is in
the detail on this stuff, and I want to genuinely
work with the opposition to get it right. It's an
everyone's interest that we have a stable regulatory environment, and

(02:49):
I reckon, you know, when there's a world, there's a
way if we can get some stability on this stuff,
it's really important. So I'm really determined to try because
it's in the country's interest.

Speaker 1 (02:57):
Will you be the person that change the direction of
the country in terms of regulation so we never see
a k road building like that rejected, or a wind
farm in Southland rejected in a way that no one
can truly explain.

Speaker 2 (03:11):
Mike, that is my aim. I wake up every morning
determined to try and liberalize the planning laws in this country.
It's totally insane where we've got to. It's too hard
to build houses, too hard to build energy projects, too
hard to actually get stuff built in this country. And
the lock if I can in my time as in
Parliament having fixed our planning laws so that we can
actually get on and build stuff again, and I'll be

(03:33):
a happy man.

Speaker 1 (03:34):
Here we go, all right, good on, you go well
Chris Bushop the RIMA but also Transport Minister of course.
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