Kiwis could soon ditch the plastic and carry their driver’s licence on their phones, thanks to a new bill making its way through Parliament.
The Regulatory Systems (Transport) Amendment Bill, which passed its first reading with support from all six parties, would allow both a physical and digital version of a driver’s licence.
That means your ID could be stored alongside your other debit cards in your digital wallet.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon reckons it’s a no-brainer, calling digital licences a “common sense thing”.
“We’re all using digital wallets to buy products and services across the country,” he said.
Transport Minister Chris Bishop told 1News Kiwis had been asking for it, “so we’re updating the law to allow this to happen.”
National MP James Meager had a more relatable example - especially for many Kiwis spending their weekends in the nightlife scene.
“It will help achieve the solution of what happens, you know, maybe when we're going to the local wine bar in Christchurch central, and we have to provide our ID to the bouncer, and we pad our pockets, and we've left our driver's licence at home.”
“We can bring up our digital driver's licence on our phone and show that to the bouncer,” he said.
Because, how many times have we tried to use the “will a photo on my phone work?” only to be turned away at the door…
The bill would also scrap the need for paper-based WOFs, certificates of fitness and registration stickers on windscreens - something Meager described as “just annoying” and “a waste of time”.
Though, while it would be easier access for some, it doesn’t mean the scrapping of physical versions altogether. The Government acknowledged that not everyone has easy access to technology.
Bishop added it won’t happen overnight, either. “Given New Zealand will be among the first in the world to implement digital driver licences, we need to make sure we get it right,” he said.
New Zealand would be following in the lead of Denmark, Iceland, Norway and some of the USA, which have already made digital options available.
If all goes to plan, it's said the changes are expected to be rolled out by the middle of next year.
