Brown Peter: Road Traffic Reduction Bill — Second Reading 
Brown Peter: Road Traffic Reduction Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:615;Page:11143] 
PETER BROWN (Deputy Leader—NZ First) 
: 
 If the member who has just resumed her seat thinks that the Government is on track to solve New Zealand’s transport problems I say to her that she is woefully out of touch with the problem. We have major problems when it comes to moving vehicles—trucks cars and what have you—on our roads because roads have not kept pace with traffic demands traffic numbers traffic volumes and vehicle types. We had better start thinking seriously about how we will address that problem or it will get worse. 
The former Minister of Transport gave a lot of credit to the Greens for the Road Traffic Reduction Bill. Claluse 4 states that the purpose of Part 1 is “to provide for regional councils and the Minister of Transport to put in place measures to reduce motorised traffic and thereby enhance environmental quality and the health safety and well-being of people and communities.” 
This bill will not reduce traffic; nor will the Land Transport Management Act which the Green Party claims takes on board what this bill sets out to do. I would wager with anybody in this House that every area in this country will see increased traffic volumes car numbers and vehicle numbers every year. New Zealanders like the independence that a car provides them with. Trucking is the most effective method of transporting cargo from place to place in this country. Unless we start building roads we will suffer economically and many people will die in the process. 
Our roads are inadequate—in some areas they are woefully inadequate. We have 92000 kilometres of roading in this country and only 60-something percent is tar-sealed. The former Minister of Transport made reference to congestion charges in London. London is half the size in area of Auckland with about 12 times the population. 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: So? 
PETER BROWN 
: Well think about it. We do not have the problems that London has. We are way short of them. If we built decent roads in Auckland—if both former transport Ministers had really wanted to address the problems—we would have a roading project going on here like nobody’s business. To stand up and read a few pamphlets and say that this is what they will do and that there is record building this year is absolutely disgraceful. The former Minister of Transport the Hon Maurice Williamson knows that the roads built while he was Minister were not of sufficient number—length volume whatever—and Mark Gosche should have known the same whilst he was Minister. This Government uses petrol motorists in particular as a cash cow as did previous Governments. Whilst that attitude prevails we will never get anywhere. We will get more congestion more problems and more people dying as a result of inadequate roading. 
If anybody on the other side of the House thinks that public transport will solve the problem I say that it will reach saturation point pretty quickly too. Unless public transport is reliable comfortable affordable effective—in other words can get there in a reasonable time frame—and provides a regular service it will fail. I congratulate the previous Minister Mark Gosche on at least injecting more funding into public transport and opening the door for its expansion. But please do not say that it will be the saviour of Auckland or indeed anywhere else. We are too small a country and New Zealanders love their cars. I love my car. I have two of them and I get a distinct pleasure in driving—not in Auckland but generally elsewhere it is a pleasurable activity. I say very seriously that if we do not start building roads that are safe and well designed for the well-being of this country we will suffer as a result. 
This bill is gobbledygook; it is twaddle; it is rubbish. The only credit one could possibly give it is that it did get some consideration in the Land Transport Management Act. However I think the Land Transport Management Act would have been all the better without this. This is negative thinking but it should be no surprise. The Green Party which has Mike Ward as transport spokesperson—I have nothing personal against him—would be the only party that puts up a transport spokesperson who cannot drive a car has never driven a car and is not interested in driving a car. He is the transport spokesman for the Greens. No wonder they came up with this twaddle. 
Ron Mark 
: He couldn’t pass a licence. 
PETER BROWN 
: I do not think he is interested in passing a licence. One thing that the Hon Mark Gosche implied which I would like to challenge him on was that the Automobile Association was against public transport. I do not know who he spoke to in the Automobile Association but as far as I am concerned ever since I have been in Parliament I have had reasonable ongoing dealings with that organisation and I have never known anyone from the Automobile Association to come out firmly against public transport. I believe that that should be corrected. There was I think a little bit of straying from the truth because the Automobile Association although it represents motorists is not on record anywhere to my knowledge as being against public transport. In fact my personal belief is that it would have encouraged better use and better provision of public transport for many years. 
In summary we are bogged down with red tape the Resource Management Act and lack of money. I think the Transit 10-year plan wants $8 billion and even that will not be enough if one listens to some experts. It will not cover the road building that has to go on in the Bay of Plenty and in Tauranga in particular—they need $500 million there. People are playing ducks and drakes over whether they will get the finances. But motorists have paid plenty for roading. It is about time that we injected sufficient capital into roading recognised that it is woefully inadequate in general terms across the country and addressed the problem comprehensively. If as Labour is saying walking cycling and public transport will be our saviour and the Governmentis going to rely on that to save the situation let me tell members the Government will be coming out with egg on its face and plenty of it. 
If this was not so serious it would be funny. We would be one of the few countries in the world that depend on exports and imports and the movement of cargo and people and we treat our roading in such a frivolous manner. I believe it has reached a crisis point in terms of finances being injected into roading and I do not think that with the best will in the world we will do it without being able to borrow more money. The Government should take note that we need to inject capital in large doses into roading not only in Auckland but in other areas. From listening to the two former transport Ministers one would think we were talking only about Auckland but we are talking about the whole country. We need to inject money in sufficient doses and we will have to borrow money to achieve that. I believe that if the Government really had a will to address the issue it would be thinking along those lines. 
It is no good playing politics with this issue. It affects everybody in this country—everybody. We all get in our cars buses trains or whatever and we need to be moved here there and everywhere. Everything we consume is transported and most of it comes or goes by truck. I listened to the two former transport Ministers and I thought they took this issue very light-heartedly. It was almost like a comic opera and that saddened me. 
New Zealand First is on record as wanting something done about the roads in this country and we want it done urgently. I hope the Government takes note.