6. Hon DARREN HUGHES (Labour) Link to this
to the Minister of Transport
Does he support the statement in the Speech from the Throne that “of particular focus will be the development of new roading and public transport projects”; if so, why?
Hon STEVEN JOYCE (Minister of Transport) Link to this
Yes; because improving our transport infrastructure is important for the economic growth and development of New Zealand.
Hon Darren Hughes Link to this
Why did the Minister grandly announce over the summer that he was bringing forward the construction of the Kōpū Bridge to the 2010 financial year, when the previous Government had already announced to the Waikato regional transport committee that that would be the year it would start; and if he is so committed to the project occurring in the same year as Labour was having it built but as a new Minister felt a great need to differentiate, is it not a little hollow not to tell the Thames-Coromandel District Council at least which month in 2010 the bridge will be started?
I did indicate over the summer that there was a possibility that the Kōpū Bridge would be brought forward. I suggest that the member wait until the Prime Minister’s announcements tomorrow.
Hon Darren Hughes Link to this
Why did the Minister reopen the debate on Transmission Gully when it was the preferred route of the previous Government, and continues to be the preferred route of the Wellington region; and is it not a little hollow to claim, as he tried to yesterday, that the Crown contribution was unfunded, when it has been earmarked in the Crown accounts since 2005 when the Wellington regional transport package was first announced?
I raised it because the previous Labour Government, which was in office for some 9 years, raised expectations regarding this route that were unfunded at the time that it left office. It suggested that $400 million would be allocated to complete the $1 billion project, but left the remaining $600 million to be funded by local bodies in the region. A regional fuel tax was talked of as a means by which that might happen; I am informed by the ministry that a Wellington regional fuel tax in the order of 13.5c per litre would be needed to fund the $600 million that the Government of the time left unfunded, so it could be described as more of a wish than a plan.
David BennettWhat is the forecast expenditure over the next 3 years for new and improved infrastructure for State highways, as funded through the Government policy statement?
Thank you for that question. I was surprised to discover that the expenditure on new and improved State highways was forecast to decrease by 9 percent over the next 3 years in the Government policy statement signed off by the previous Labour Minister of Transport. We are therefore urgently reviewing the Government policy statement so that that decrease will not happen. The Government will be increasing funding for State highway construction, not decreasing it.
Hon Darren Hughes Link to this
Why did the Minister claim that the cost of the critical Waterview Connection in Auckland had blown out to more than $3 billion, when his own report shows that the cost was actually $2 billion—when like is compared with like—before he started adding bells and whistles to the project in order to undermine it, and does he not think that getting his figures wrong by 50 percent makes his claim for a review sound a little hollow?
The business case that the member refers to was commissioned by the previous Government and provided to the current Government. It says that the expensive tunnelling option would cost $2.77 billion for the twin two-lane option, or over $3.1 billion for the twin three-lane option. That is a massive amount of money for one 4.5-kilometre highway. It represents 1.6 percent of GDP, and there is a common theme here because Waterview was also unfunded by the previous Government.