Brownlee Gerry: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Brownlee Gerry: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:614;Page:10498] 
7.  
GERRY BROWNLEE (Deputy Leader—National) 
 to the  
Minister of Finance 
: Has all of the revenue raised from the extra 4.2c per litre petrol excise duty and associated road-user charge increases introduced by the Government last year been spent on new roads; if not why not? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN (Minister of Finance) 
: 
 No because some money has gone to road safety education and enforcement some to alternatives to roading some to public transport and a small amount to walking and cycling. All of those benefit the motorist either directly by improving the roading network or safety or indirectly by reducing congestion. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: Noting the comments of the Transfund chief executive that: “Higher than forecast revenue from road-user charges and fuel excise has resulted in Transfund holding $225 million in the national land transport account at the end of the financial year.” is there any justification for further increases in fuel excise known as petrol tax? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: The first point to make is that all the additional revenue is held in the National Land Transport Fund and none of it went into the Crown account. Secondly all that money will be spent on land transport matters. Thirdly the member is aware that we are planning for the funding of Auckland’s roading needs and the rest of the country’s for the next 10 years or more. We have to plan for a number of circumstances in that regard. Fourthly in terms of any subsequent question he may raise I suggest he waits for the answer to question No. 12. 
Jeanette Fitzsimons 
: Has the Minister received any suggestions from Mr Brownlee about how the thousands of extra passengers who have been able to take public transport in Auckland recently should be forced back into their cars at rush hour; and has he had any letters from motorists clamouring for more heavy trucks to be on the road rather than increased use of rail? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: I am certainly not aware of correspondence clamouring for extra heavy trucks to be on the road and I am not aware of any positive suggestions made by Mr Brownlee on any transport matters so far. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: Has difficulty in gaining Resource Management Act consents contributed to Transfund’s inability to spend all the money it now has; and will the Government be moving to amend the Resource Management Act to make sure New Zealanders get the roads they need; if not why not? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: I look forward to the next general election to see whether any local National Party candidates in Auckland will oppose any specific roading project and suggest the road should move somewhere else because one of the reasons it is important to have proper regulatory processes around roading is that the routeing of any specific road is always a contentious matter and the Resource Management Act should not be replaced by some form of executive dictatorship. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. Noting that you did recognise that the Minister got himself lost at the start of that answer— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: He came right at the end. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: I do not think he did. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I do. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: I think he just managed to pull the wool over the House’s eyes. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: No I do not think so. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: If I can make my point the question was: will the Resource Management Act be reformed? It was not a question about some new authority; it was not a question about transferring Resource Management Act decisions to some other grouping. It was simply a question about whether the Act itself will be reformed. Everyone knows from one end of the country to the other that it does not work. Everyone knows that Transfund has $225 million because of that Act not allowing Transfund to spend it. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: The last part was a debating comment. 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: The Resource Management Act passed under the previous National Government is under perpetual review and a number of changes have already been made. 
Peter Brown 
: Does the Minister not recognise that the $225 million sitting in the Transfund account would be better spent in Tauranga on the harbour bridge project and the Hewletts Road flyover and at least easing the congestion and the road problems in New Zealand’s foremost port namely the Port of Tauranga; would that not be a better use of the money than for it to be sitting in a bank account? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: As I am sure the member is aware Transfund and Transit make the decisions about the allocation of the money—they are not made by the Minister of Transport or the Prime Minister. I have to say that should we spend $225 million on the Tauranga bridge it would be the most expensive bridge of its size in the world. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: Why has Transfund not spent the $225 million in the year it was provided to it? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: Because it had more revenue than was anticipated as a result of the economy doing much better than was forecast thanks to this Government’s economic policies.