5. Hon DARREN HUGHES (Labour) Link to this
to the Minister of Transport
What is the breakdown of the $22,000 spent by the New Zealand Transport Agency for consultation meetings outlining the proposed route of the new State Highway 1 through Kapiti that have now been postponed until possibly after the Mana by-election?
Hon STEVEN JOYCE (Minister of Transport) Link to this
I congratulate the member opposite on his sartorial elegance today. The $22,000 is made up of postcards at a cost of $10,492, brochures at a cost of $9,605, five storyboards at a cost of $1,150, and, finally, advertisements at a cost of $1,000.
Hon Darren Hughes Link to this
Is it his expectation as Minister that there will be meetings before the Mana by-election takes place to inform the community about where new State Highway 1 will go?
Hon Darren Hughes Link to this
I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I understand what the Minister has said—that it is a decision, apparently, for the agency—and that is why I did not ask him that. I asked him whether it was his expectation, as the Minster of Transport, that these meetings would take place before the Mana by-election. He did not answer that question; he told me something I already knew.
Mr SPEAKERAfter listening to the answer, I assume the member would take it that the Minister does not know. He is telling the House that someone else makes the decision; he does not know. If I am wrong, the Minister should correct that perception. The Minister is indicating that that is the situation.
Hon Darren Hughes Link to this
Have any National MPs contacted him to complain about the agency’s decision not to release this information this week as planned?
No. No MPs have contacted me to complain about the delay on the decision; in fact, no MPs have contacted me since the decision has been announced.
Hon Darren Hughes Link to this
Will the Minister come to a meeting tonight in Kapiti at Southward Theatre in Paraparaumu at 7 p.m. to explain to local people why this information about where State Highway 1 will go is now being withheld from them?
No, I will not. The point is that the decision is made by the Transport Agency. I think the agency is in the situation where it is balancing the obvious desire for timeliness with the obvious desire for certainty as to where the highway will go.
Gareth HughesDoes he really expect the voters of Mana to believe that he was not involved in the decision to pull this meeting to avoid announcing in the middle of the Mana by-election that homes will be destroyed by his uneconomic motorway?
I should clarify for the member that the Transport Agency briefed me on its proposed documentation before it made its decision. But the agency took its own decision that the consultation should not go ahead, because—[ Interruption]
I apologise to the Minister. A member of the Green Party, Gareth Hughes, has asked a question. I doubt that he can hear the answer, because of the noise of the Labour Party front bench. That is not fair. I ask them to be more reasonable when a member from another party asks a supplementary question.
As I was saying, the Transport Agency took its own decision, I understand, because it was concerned that it had insufficient detail on a section of the road towards the northern end of the alignment that, if consulted on as it stood, would leave too much uncertainty for local residents.
Hon Darren Hughes Link to this
When was he first informed by the agency that it was considering delaying the meetings to inform the people of Kapiti about where new State Highway 1 would go, and when was he informed that it had finally made that decision?