Keep Transport In The Fast Lane - MTA

Keep your foot on the gas and continue the good work of your predecessor in giving New Zealand the transport sector and automotive industry the country needs.

That’s the message from the Motor Trade Association to Chris Bishop as he replaces Simeon Brown in the crucial Transport Minister role.

MTA Chief Executive Lee Marshall says Brown has proven to be a strong and effective Minister, who worked with industry, made pragmatic calls and took decisive action.

“We built a strong mutual respect and relationship with Simeon Brown when he was in Opposition, and realised we shared the same visions and goals for the sector,” Mr Marshall says.

“He listened to MTA and built a lot of our calls and thinking into his campaign. Since taking office just over a year ago, we have enjoyed frequent and productive contact and he’s put many of the things we wanted into reality.

“He was recently judged Politician of the Year by one mainstream media outlet and we agree with that assessment.”

The Minister has taken bold steps such as realigning New Zealand’s emissions targets, phasing out the Clean Car Discount and introducing road user charges for electric vehicles.

“While these have not been universally popular, they are steps that we argued needed to be taken,” Mr Marshall says.

“His commitment to improving and building roads, recognising the importance road transport will have the foreseeable future, is also praiseworthy.”

Mr Marshall says MTA will be reaching out to Minister Bishop without delay to congratulate him on his appointment and share MTA’s blueprint for the industry.

“We look forward to enjoying the same productive relationship with Chris Bishop,” Mr Marshall says.

“Appropriately for our industry, he is a political powerhouse and we’re confident he is just as committed to the sector as Minister Brown.”

The Motor Trade Association (MTA) was founded in 1917. MTA currently represents more than 4000 businesses within the automotive industry.Members include automotive repairers (both heavy and light vehicle),collision repair,service stations, vehicle importers and distributors and vehicle sales. The automotive industryemploys 62,700peopleand contributesaround $5.5billionto the economy.

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