17207 (2026). Tangi Utikere to the Minister of Transport

17207 (2026). Tangi Utikere to the Minister of Transport: Further to Reply 13378 (2026), what is the name, role or position title of the decision-maker or decision-makers within NZTA who authorised the 16 April 2025 amendment to the Certificate of Particulars control; and on what documented advice, risk assessment or business case was that amendment based, if any?

Hon Chris Bishop: I am advised that the amendment was approved by managers within the Customer and Services business unit. At the time, advice provided to those managers noted that the amended control had led to an increase in contact with NZTA. Those contacts showed that the Certificate of Particulars (CoP) requirement was disproportionately affecting people who were assessed as low risk. One example was people born in New Zealand who later obtained a driver licence in the other country. Based on this information, it was recommended that the CoP requirement be limited to higher risk cases – specifically, individuals whose country of primary identification was a non-exempt country and the country of licence presented was an exempt country.