17201 (2026). Tangi Utikere to the Minister of Transport

17201 (2026). Tangi Utikere to the Minister of Transport: Further to Replies 13162, 13166 and 13167 (2026), (a) how many individuals from the cohort of 461 persons identified as having fraudulently converted overseas licences are currently the subject of active criminal investigations; (b) how many have been charged; (c) by what date does the Minister anticipate these investigations and legal processes will be sufficiently advanced that the aggregated statistical information sought — traffic offence rates, crash involvement rates, and roadside inspection outcomes for the cohort — can be released without prejudice to the maintenance of the law?

Hon Chris Bishop: I am advised that none of the cohort are the subject of active criminal charges by NZTA; however, NZTA’s investigations remain ongoing. At an aggregated level, NZTA have advised me that between 1 February and 31 October 2025, there are 10 road crashes that involved individuals within this cohort recorded in the Crash Analysis System and 183 potential traffic offences recorded against 113 individuals, noting that a number of these remain under investigation and have not yet resulted in a conviction or confirmation of the traffic offence. Between 1 February and 31 October 2025, there were 331 roadside inspections of 620 vehicles (noting that each tractor and trailer unit is recorded as a separate vehicle). Of these 620 vehicles, which are the responsibility of the Transport Service Licence holder and not necessarily be the holder of a fraudulent driver licence, non-compliance actions were taken against 77 vehicles.