The Transport and Industrial Relations Committee has reported back [PDF, large] on the Land Transport Management Amendment Bill and recommended that it be passed. The billis highly technical, but the most significant part of it allows regional councils to institute regional fuel taxes to fund local transport and public transport priorities. While there are a number of amendments in this area, they're all technical, and aimed at tweaking the scheme rather than gutting it. So it looks like we will at least get the legal framework in place; now all we need is a Minister with a backbone.
Significantly, the National party, which claims to oppose this aspect of the bill, didn't even bother issuing a minority report on it. The obvious interpretation is that they have no good reasons for their opposition, and it is a purely political stance; if they were in government, they'd be passing it too.
