10. Hon MAURICE WILLIAMSON (National—Pakuranga) Link to this
to the Minister of Transport
What action does he intend to take to ensure there is no “slowdown” in Transit New Zealand’s 10-year State highway construction programme?
Hon DAVID PARKER (Minister of Transport) Link to this
The Government has doubled the amount spent annually on State highway construction from $248 million in 1999 to $600 million in the coming year. The Government’s commitment to its ambitious roading programme continues. Record levels of investment will continue to ensure ongoing progress on State highway upgrades.
Hon Maurice Williamson Link to this
Will one of the actions the Minister takes be to follow the advice of a number of august bodies, such as the Automobile Association, Federated Farmers, and others, who all yesterday asked the Minister to move over more of the dedicated petrol tax that does not go to roading but to the Crown bank account—an action that, I must say, most of his front bench voted for in the mid-1990s?
Hon Maurice Williamson Link to this
I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. Twice before I finished my question, the previous member for Tauranga—he has lost Tauranga—called out: “Who stopped it?”.
Madam SPEAKERHon Maurice Williamson Link to this
It was an unnecessary comment, and I would like you to do something about it.
I must say that the member’s was, too. The Minister did interject at the end. It was a marginal call, but if I were to put everyone out of the House for marginal calls, there would be nobody left. I ask the Minister to please respond to the question.
I note that the proportion of excise duty going into road transport funding has been growing significantly in the last 6 years under Labour. I further note that at the last election National was not promising to put it all in.
Hon Dr Michael Cullen Link to this
Can the Minister confirm that by 2007-08 nearly the entire excise duty and road user charges will be going into the Land Transport Fund, and that that will by no means cover the full cost of land transport in New Zealand—in other words, there will be transfers from general taxation into land transport?
Hon Maurice Williamson Link to this
Has the Minister seen yesterday’s press release from the New Zealand Contractors Federation chief executive officer, Richard Michael, which stated: “The Prime Minister’s claims on Tuesday that ‘the pressure on construction capacity has been escalating costs’ is simply not true.”; and when will he take some action to appraise the Prime Minister of her errors?
It is true that we have cost-price increases in road construction. It is not yet clear where those road construction cost increases are being driven from. Part of those increases relate to the high rate of increase in wages for low-paid workers as a consequence of our low unemployment rate and the ability of those workers to quite justly claim higher wages.
Darien FentonWhat steps is the Minister taking to assess whether cost increases in road construction are justified?
As Minister of Transport I am responsible for ensuring taxpayers get value for money in terms of our roading projects. To that end I am establishing a working-group drawn from the private sector and local government to help examine where cost savings in road design and construction can be made.
Hon Maurice Williamson Link to this
Is the Minister aware that in the press release from the Contractors Federation yesterday the chief executive also said: “There is considerable excess capacity in the sector at present, including the Auckland region, and this can be seen by the number of tenders that were at very competitive prices in the latest Transit project.”; and how does that square with the Minister of Finance going out and saying that tenders are being squeezed in price because of the lack of capacity that is out there?
Yes, I am aware of that press release and the contents of it. I am also aware that approximately 10 times the amount is being spent on highway projects in the Auckland region compared with when that member left office as the relevant Minister.
Hon Maurice Williamson Link to this
Is the Minister aware that even under the current Transit 10-year plan—and there are suggestions that that may need to be cut—State Highway 20 doubling of the Māngere Bridge, State Highway 20 Avondale extension, the Harbour Bridge to city link, and the refurbishment of the Newmarket viaduct will all be approximately halfway through being built when the Rugby World Cup occurs; and is he happy for this nation to be showcased to the world as being nothing more than a parking lot that moves a few centimetres every hour?
I am absolutely confident that the roading network in Auckland will be immeasurably better by the time of the Rugby World Cup compared with the parlous state in which it was left in 1999.
Hon Maurice Williamson Link to this
Given that the Prime Minister gave an absolute commitment to the Rugby World Cup organisers that this Government would ensure that the adequate infrastructure would be available, how can it be that the major arteries that will be required for Auckland to function in 2011 will not be halfway through construction by the time of the Rugby World Cup?