A bill that sets up the legal framework for the government's clean car discount and fees for high-emission imports has passed its first checkpoint to becoming law this evening.
Photo: 123RF
The Land Transport Clean Vehicles Amendment Bill passed its first reading 77 votes to 43.
Labour, the Green Party and Te Pāti Māori all voted for the bill and National and ACT opposed it.
Transport Minister Michael Wood says the bill helps bring New Zealand into line with most other OECD countries which already have import emission standards.
"Countries and car manufacturers around the world are shifting to cleaner cars, so we have to move quickly to stop us becoming a dumping ground for the world's dirtiest vehicles," Woods says in a statement.
"The Bill will help prevent millions of tonnes of emissions from our light vehicle fleet, give Kiwis access to more cars that are cheaper to run, and make it cheaper for families to buy electric and low emission cars," he says.
He says millions of tonnes of emissions from the country's light vehicle fleet will be prevented because of this bill.