8 November 2016

UnitedFuture Welcomes Energy Innovation Bill- Dunne

UnitedFuture leader, Hon Peter Dunne, has welcomed the First Reading of the Energy Innovation (Electric Vehicles and Other Matters) Amendment Bill.

The Bill is an omnibus Bill that seeks to create a better regulatory environment to harness electricity innovation and electric vehicle ownership in New Zealand.

"UnitedFuture is very supportive of the Government's targets to increase electric vehicle ownership and increase energy innovation in New Zealand," said Mr Dunne.

'We believe that the Government is paving the way for exciting development and are therefore supporting this legislation.

"We do believe that this legislation and the policy direction we are seeing backs UnitedFuture's calls for a more direct investment in electric vehicle ownership.

"UnitedFuture's policy on electric vehicles is to establish an annual grant of $5 million to encourage investment in electric vehicles and charging stations across the country," said Mr Dunne.

UnitedFuture's electric vehicle grant would allow up to $5000 to be claimed or up to 30% of the cost of a vehicle or charging station, whichever is smaller. It would further apply to businesses who could claim to replace company cars with electric vehicles. Businesses would be able to claim funding in order to set up electric vehicle infrastructure, such as charging stations.

"For our energy transformation to occur we must work to ensure that there are incentives to purchase an electric vehicles and that those incentives create clear and easy choices for Kiwi families and businesses to invest in energy efficient transport.

"Our policy aims at making the choice to go electric easier for New Zealand families and creates the motivation to build critical mass of fast charging stations and electric vehicles across the country.

"This policy is complementary to the Government's policies in this area and we are hopeful that the direction we are currently going in as a country will move us towards a future-proofed New Zealand environment.

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