The pipeline
Highlighting the critical pieces of legislation that will affect your business, providing updates along the way.
Time of Use law changes underway
The starting gun has been fired, and drafting of legislation to enable time of use schemes for our busiest roads is underway. Congestion on our busiest roads in Auckland, Tauranga and Wellington robs road users of time and taxes our productivity. Using price signals to smooth road usage peaks is tried and tested overseas and leads to a more efficient network overall.
NRC supports time of use and congestion charging as necessary tools to improve supply chain productivity. But they must be carefully planned and implemented, which means getting place and pricing right. Doing it for the right reasons is important too – for faster trip times, not fattening council budgets. Done well and road freight will be a winner with shorter journey times at peak, a that is worth paying for.
The bill will go through select committees next year, NRC will be closely engaging through the process on your behalf and will be providing regular updates.
Health & Safety Act undergoing a fitness check
The key piece of law to keep us safe at work is about to turn ten years old, so how well has it done? That’s the question a review of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 now underway is looking to answer. These laws literally shape how we work each day as procedures and policies, and it is important that the legal framework enables safety and efficiency to work hand in hand. With transport constantly in the top 5 industries that cause harm to our workers, as an industry we cannot afford to be complacent. Now is the opportunity to have your say on what needs fixing.
NRC speaking with members have highlighted some examples where improvements are needed. One is the call for standardizing how prequalification works for transport operators, a perennial pain point for those who visit multiple sites daily. Another common issue raised is why can’t children accompany drivers in the cab anymore, a staple of our industry. This one may be more to do with insurance policies and workplace policies at customer sites.
Make your voice heard – have your say here by 31st October.
RMA Reform making good progress
Last week RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Parliamentary Under-Secretary Simon Court announced the Government is replacing the RMA with two laws based on property rights. NRC members will remember Simon Court talking with CEO Justin Tighe-Umbers pre-election on why RMA reform is so critical for getting timely infrastructure. Now he is making good on that promise.
“Putting property rights at the centre of resource management means ditching rules that invite every Tom, Dick, and Harry to vexatiously object to peaceful use and development of private property. Rules should only restrict activity with material spillover effects on other people’s enjoyment of their own property, or on the property rights of the wider natural environment that sustains us,” Mr Court says.
NRC are firm supporters of both the RMA reforms and Fast Track legislation. We have a long, narrow country, split by water, and challenging terrain and topography. With only 2 million taxpayers to foot the bill, the telecommunications, energy and yes roading infrastructure that New Zealand enjoys is impressive – other countries wonder how we do it. But we need to stop wasting countless dollars and hours in a come-all-who-may consenting process.
We can do it faster while still doing it fairly. These two pieces of legislation will be critical to the timely delivery of the record investment underway in the National Land Transport Plan.
Transport rules and regulations overhaul
This work is continuing, with NRC GM Policy and Advocacy James Smith attending regular workshops with NZTA and industry. It has been over 30 years since many of these rules were put in place under the Land Transport Act, and many are no longer up to the job originally intended.
A high performing transport system needs settings that clearly deliver productivity, efficiency and safety outcomes for our transport and roading networks.
NRC is working on your behalf to ensure rule changes land as positive wins for transport operators. We are calling for a wholesale regulatory review of transport rules, so that they are outcome focused, setting a target without being prescriptive on how to get there, and relevant. Outdated red tape needs to be put in the bin. We’ve discussed with the Minister the need to accelerate this work and are confident we’ll see some further work underway soon.
Keep reading Full Throttle Digital Edition for updates on what is coming down the pipeline.
Contractor law changes on the way
Changes to the Employment Relations Act announced in September by Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden, and road transport operators are keenly interested in what they mean for their businesses. These changes are proposed following the recent Uber court case which centred around whether uber drivers are employees or contractors. The Court of Appeal backed the case taken by four Uber drivers, who fought to be treated as employees rather than contractors. It is understood Uber will be appealing to the Supreme Court.
“These changes to legislation are necessary to ensure businesses and workers have more clarity from the start of their contracting arrangement. It is an ACT-National coalition commitment and is another action completed in the Government’s Quarter 3 Action Plan,” says Ms van Velden.
With the vast majority of the transport sector operating on contracts, from heavy freight to last-mile courier drivers, these changes are being closely watched across the industry. NRC is working with our legal partners Fortune Manning to ensure that there are no unintended consequences of these proposed changes for our sector. We will continue to monitor and be in touch with the Minister as required and will keep you informed along the way.
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