10. Question No. 10—TransportCHRIS BISHOP (National—Hutt South) to the Minister of TransportQuestion No. 10—Transport10. CHRIS BISHOP (National—Hutt South) to the Minister of Transport: Why has the Government not gone out to the market and invited other bids for the Auckland light rail project when he said yesterday the unsolicited proposal from NZ Infra is unique. Nothing like that has ever been tackled before in New Zealand and the Government took the view that it was best to assess that financing and governance model and consider whether we wanted to do that before then going out to the market and inviting other bids"?Hon PHIL TWYFORD (Minister of Transport): I stand by my comments of yesterday. NZ Infra submitted an unsolicited proposal for the delivery of light rail in Auckland. Consistent with procurement guidelines the Government is giving further consideration to that proposal. It's doing this by considering it against the alternative option of a procurement led by the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA). Following the Cabinet decision on our preferred delivery partner the market will then be able to engage with either NZ Infra or NZTA.Chris Bishop: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. Just reflect on that answer and whether or not it actually addressed the—SPEAKER: I listened to it very very carefully and I studied the question very carefully and it was answered.Chris Bishop: Why did the Government not see if there was any interest in the wider international infrastructure construction market in building Auckland light rail particularly once it received an unsolicited bid to build it?SPEAKER: Order! I'm going to ask the member to rephrase that in light of the answer that was received.Chris Bishop: What were the Government's reasons for not testing the feasibility of building light rail in Auckland with the wider international construction market?Hon PHIL TWYFORD: Because it's necessary to follow the Government procurement guidelines.Chris Bishop: Why has the Government limited itself to only two preferred delivery partners for Auckland light rail?Hon PHIL TWYFORD: Because the Government procurement guidelines contain a process explicitly designed to deal with unsolicited bids and we believe it was right to follow those guidelines.Chris Bishop: Is he seriously saying to the House that in the event that the Government receives an unsolicited bid for a project that the Government is seeking to procure the procurement guidelines compel the Government to then put that unsolicited bid up against the other proposal on the table and that's it?Hon PHIL TWYFORD: The guidelines contain a process for dealing with unsolicited bids and we have followed it.Chris Bishop: Has he or his office had any engagement with the Office of the Auditor-General regarding the procurement process for Auckland light rail?Hon PHIL TWYFORD: No but I'll say this: Cabinet decided to undertake this process on the basis of advice from a number of Government agencies. The Ministry of Transport has been leading a process in conjunction with various stakeholders and with oversight from Audit New Zealand and Crown Law. And the process is entirely consistent with the procurement guidelines.Chris Bishop: Is there a chance that Cabinet will decide not to proceed with either the NZ Infra or NZ Transport Agency proposals and if so what happens then?Hon PHIL TWYFORD: That's a hypothetical."