Transport, fishing bills first up

Press, 26 February 1983, Page 11

Transport, fishing bills first up

Parliamentary reporter Four main bills will be the first up before select committees when hearings of submissions begin next month. The two Transport Amendment Bills, the Air Services Licensing Amendment Bill, and the Fisheries Bill were introduced towards the end of the last Parliamentary session. Submissions on the two Transport Bills and the Air Services Licensing Amendment Bill will close today, and on the Fisheries Bill on March 1. Interest has been strongest in the Air Services Bill, which will open all Air NewZealand routes to competition from third-level airlines and free the aerial work industry, and in the Transport Amendment Bill No. 5. which will ease out the 150 km freight restriction on

road transport's competing with rail. A committee clerk said yesterday that filing of submissions had not been heavy, but that the closing date often brought a lot in. Hearings will begin first on the Fisheries Bill, which will divide fisheries into zones of management and reform the existing Fisheries Act, 1908, and the Wildlife Amendment Bill, which extends better protection to rare and endangered wild plant species. Later in March, the two transport bills and the Air Services Licensing Amendment will be under study. The Transport Amendment Bill No. 4 will introduce random stopping by. traffic officers, strengthen the law against drinking and driving, and tidy the register of drivers' licences to help in the enforcement of driver disqualifications.