1. Transport Auckland—Rail and CongestionJACINDA ARDERN (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime MinisterTUESDAY 8 AUGUST 2017Mr Speaker took the Chair at 2 p.m.Prayers.ORAL QUESTIONSQUESTIONS TO MINISTERSTransport Auckland—Rail and Congestion1. JACINDA ARDERN (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime Minister: Did the Auckland transport announcement he made on Sunday include any acceleration of his Government's plan to wait 30 years to build rail to the airport; if not why not?Rt Hon BILL ENGLISH (Prime Minister): Our announcement on Sunday confirmed that we are committing $267 million to improving commuter rail in Auckland and in Wellington to support future passenger growth. It is part of a $24 billion transport plan that we have worked together on with the Auckland Council and that plan is currently being updated. That update process will take account of growing demand for light rail and it is always possible that it could come forward but right now Waterview has reduced the travel time to 25 minutes and reduced congestion and so we have got time to consider the need for light rail.Jacinda Ardern: Given the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) says traffic volumes to Auckland Airport have risen by a third in the last 4 years how long does he expect the delays will get in the next 30 years?Rt Hon BILL ENGLISH: The travel time has dropped considerably since the Waterview tunnel opened and that is a big step forward. As part of the transport plan with Auckland we need to fast track the route protection for the mass transit corridor and that is agreed and under way. As the plan is reviewed in light of changing demand we are interested in the light rail and it may come forward if that is what is required. Jacinda Ardern: Does he agree with NZTA that Waterview—thank you Labour—is not a means"—Mr SPEAKER: Order! The member will ask her question without the level of interjection that is coming from my immediate right.Jacinda Ardern: Does he agree—[Interruption]Mr SPEAKER: Order! I have just given a warning and it was ignored by one very senior Minister. I hope I do not have to mention that again.Jacinda Ardern: Does he agree with NZTA that Waterview "is not a means of removing congestion altogether especially in peak periods"; if so why is he relying on what is likely to be a temporary solution to fix Auckland's transport issues and refusing to give Aucklanders alternatives and choices?Rt Hon BILL ENGLISH: The member is simply wrong about a lack of alternatives and choices. Waterview has just opened. That is having a big impact particularly for those travelling from west to south. The City Rail Link is under way which when completed will double the train capacity and all of this is in the context of an agreed plan with the Auckland Council where $24 billion of projects is planned and agreed and the update is likely to bring the number up to about $27 billion of planned agreed projects and funding.Jacinda Ardern: If light rail is "a good idea" as he said on Sunday why is it not a good idea until 2047 by which time Auckland's population will have grown by an estimated 700000?Rt Hon BILL ENGLISH: As I have said the plan between the Auckland Council and the Government has concluded that fast-track route protection for a mass transit corridor should get under way. Secondly the Auckland Council and the Government are not willing to do light rail now at the expense of the key economic project of the East-West Link which is about freight and trucks and economic activity. Labour's proposition is going to scale back the East-West Link and bring in a regional fuel tax. We simply disagree with both.Jacinda Ardern: When the Auckland Council Greater Auckland and the Auckland chamber of commerce all support light rail to the airport straight away why does he think he knows Auckland's transport needs better than Auckland's own community leaders?Rt Hon BILL ENGLISH: We have spent a number of years—the last couple of years—forming the Auckland transport plan with the council. For the first time ever central government and the council have a common view about the projects a common view about the funding and of course there are some differences of opinion. We both agree we need the East-West Link because it is critical to the logistics of getting in and out of the largest industrial area in New Zealand and I am surprised that the Labour Party does not understand how necessary it is.Jacinda Ardern: Does he understand that Aucklanders are paying the price of congestion already—they pay it in the time they spend stuck in traffic in the work that does not get done we have the world's worst housing shortage in Auckland yet our builders are spending hours a day stuck in traffic; does he understand that the cost of doing nothing for 30 more years is great?Rt Hon BILL ENGLISH: The member may have noticed all the red cones around Auckland because there is no major transport route that is not undergoing major change with more projects to come. Waterview has just opened we have the northern corridor improvements and we are expanding a number of lanes on the Southern Motorway. There is the now planned busway on the Northwestern Motorway where there has already been a lot of work. The City Rail Link is the biggest project of them all the East-West Link is to come and we are dealing with Mill Road. Aucklanders see all this happening and it is having an impact on the flows of traffic. We have a growing economy—that is a good thing. We are going to invest to support that growth.Jacinda Ardern: Rather than delaying a decision as he did with the City Rail Link for so many years will he join with me to make Auckland a world-class city by building a modern light rail network linking to the city centre to the airport to west Auckland and to the North Shore? It is an open invitation. [Interruption]Mr SPEAKER: Order! I am interested in hearing the response.Rt Hon BILL ENGLISH: We have done something way better than that—we have got together with the Auckland Council and work with it. Interestingly enough while it is interested in light rail it unlike the Labour Party is interested in the people who live down south the people who live out west and the people who live up in the north—and that is why we have got a comprehensive $24 billion plan and it is currently being updated to probably about $27 billion.Rt Hon Winston Peters: Could the Prime Minister possibly tell the country how it is that we have massive infrastructure problems in Auckland from roading and trains to housing medicine and health when the two parties who are having a row in the House today about it caused it with mass immigration in the first place?Rt Hon BILL ENGLISH: As I think the member may know the biggest single change in population in New Zealand has been that over the last 5 years 150000 Kiwis who were predicted to leave actually stayed home. They put New Zealand first and I thought that member would have thought that was success. That is why we welcome the growth and we invest to support it rather than the member's view that we should stop New Zealand being successful to slow down to what he can handle.David Seymour: How much infrastructure would New Zealand have if New Zealand First was in charge and nobody had ever immigrated here?Mr SPEAKER: Order! There is no prime ministerial responsibility for that."