Advocacy Advocacy

We are thrilled that Government appears to be listening to industry, though perhaps a broken clock is right twice a day? This became evident, as while the Government has implemented MTA’s suggestion of a one-year delay, it has increased the emissions target from 1.2 percent to 2.4 percent. MTA in its submission, made it quite clear that even with this one-year delay, the obligation imposed by the Bill will be difficult to meet successfully. The global limit on biofuel, coupled with New Zealand’s lack of infrastructure, means the industry will be hard-pressed to meet the proposed reduction rate of 2.4 percent. MTA has therefore suggested that Government aims for a 1.8 percent reduction target, balancing the need to reduce emissions with a feasible timeline.

The Fuel Industry Amendment Bill

The main thrust of the Fuel Industry Amendment

Bill is refining some important elements of the original earlier fuel reforms process, particularly terminal gate pricing. MTA’s position on the current reforms going on in the fuel market are to continue to lobby the Government to extend the benefits of these reforms to include addressing impacts involving small to medium independent fuel retailers, to the extent they are important market participants, which deliver a significant proportion of fuel to consumer end-users. While the changes outlined by the Bill are not necessarily problematic in and of themselves, they fall short in addressing the issues that small to medium independent retailers are facing, with the benefits outlined in the Bill fully flowing down to this SME level in the market. MTA has urged Government to consider these SMEs in current and future fuel industry reform.

Immigration and industry in election year

After the Christmas and New Year breaks, MTA’s Advocacy team has returned to the office revitalised and energised for the election year ahead. These last couple of months have seen the team sitting down and knuckling out what Advocacy in 2023 looks like. Election year puts MTA in prime position to push hard on several policy issues our members are facing Election year hype aside, the team has come back to work with submissions ready and waiting. Here are a couple of highlights on what we have been working on over the December-January period.

The Green List

The team has been hard at work over the course of 2022, engaging in lobbying efforts to secure a significant victory for their members in the immigration space. We are therefore excited to have achieved success just before the Christmas break, with the inclusion of skilled motor mechanics on the Green List. This inclusion will help address the current shortage of skilled workers in the automotive industry and provide a temporary solution until the local talent pool can be developed and strengthened to meet the needs of the industry.

The Sustainable Biofuel Obligation Bill

The purpose of this Sustainable Biofuel Obligation Bill is to increase the use of sustainable biofuels in New Zealand. MTA’s position on the Bill aligns with our vision of sustainability as an organisation. We want to ensure the industry can innovate and diversify so that New Zealand can leverage all available low-emission technologies and work towards a net- zero emissions future. We recognise the need for pragmatic action to address climate change and that our sector has a pivotal role to play in achieving these targets. Co-ordinated action is critical to reaching New Zealand’s netzero carbon targets.

The Bill provides various mechanisms that give parties flexibility with compliance of emission intensity reductions though a one-year delay. This delay gives the Government time to properly educate the industry and the public on the impacts the changes outlined in the Bill will have on them. This is something that we suggested when we submitted on the Sustainable Biofuel Obligation regulation in 2022.