Genter Julie Anne; Brown SimeonHon JULIE ANNE GENTER (Green—Rongotai): Thank you so much for that contribution Minister. I am really looking forward to hearing from the Minister of Transport because he has repeatedly stated that there was insufficient investment in highways and roads under the last Government. I wonder if the Minister could enlighten the committee for the year under financial review what the top three activity classes were in terms of percentage of the National Land Transport Fund. Can he confirm that State highway improvements were the No. 3 investment under the previous Government—that almost $1 billion was spent on State highway improvements just in the financial year under review not including the New Zealand Upgrade Programme and that the only two activity classes that exceeded that at 20 percent and 18 percent were State highway maintenance and local road maintenance and that therefore the vast majority of the transport budget under the previous Government was being spent on highways and local roads?Grant McCallum: What about new highways?Hon JULIE ANNE GENTER: New roads was the third-highest activity class and I will say for the benefit of the National member of the Transport and Infrastructure Committee who signed off this very report—Tangi Utikere: The deputy chair.Hon JULIE ANNE GENTER: —deputy chair—that the vast majority of the transport budget under the previous Labour Government was spent on highways and local roads; that in fact nearly $1 billion was spent on State highway improvements. And while the Minister goes on and on about one raised pedestrian crossing in Auckland not even 3 percent—not even 3 percent—of the transport budget was spent on walking and cycling improvements. Can he confirm that those are in fact the numbers—that under the last Labour Government which supposedly spent so much on alternatives to cars in fact only 3 percent of the transport budget was spent on walking and cycling and that a tiny percentage was spent on public transport relative to new State highways?Although I know the National Party cannot help but believe in their own talking points that have nothing to do with reality in fact if the Minister is truly committed to the transport improvements that he says he is how does he expect people to respond to a congestion charge or a toll if there is not sufficient investment in public transport or safe walking and cycling infrastructure in our urban areas? What is his plan to give people actual choice?Hon SIMEON BROWN (Minister of Transport): Thank you Madam Chair and I appreciate the member the Hon Julie Anne Genter outlining some of the elements of the annual review report that was from the Transport and Infrastructure Committee. I would point her to page 29 of the draft Government policy statement on transport which invests in public transport services public transport infrastructure and walking and cycling improvements.Hon JULIE ANNE GENTER (Green—Rongotai): Can the Minister of Transport confirm that the amount in the draft Government policy statement which he has just referred to is only 1 percent of the transport budget on walking and cycling improvements and a lower percentage than in the previous year which was still a minority of the transport budget on public transport? And now we're in a situation where New Zealand has the highest car ownership in the entire world because people don't have a choice because of decades of insufficient investment in alternatives that people would be happy to use that would do more for the people who need to use the roads and that would do more to move people and goods efficiently. To now invest in alternatives to having to own so many cars and spend literally billions tens of billions of dollars—Grant McCallum: People in the regions need roads.Hon JULIE ANNE GENTER: No one is questioning whether or not people in the regions need roads. The question is: what is the best investment to move people and goods now and that reduces the cost burden of transport on businesses and people in New Zealand? Does the Minister understand that the best way to move more people and goods now is to invest in better public transport and walking and cycling in our urban areas and inter-city rail and buses and ferries in the rest of our country so that the people using the roads don't have to compete with so many other cars and trucks? The single most inconvenient thing for someone trying to drive somewhere is not someone on a bike it's not someone on public transport; it's the other cars and trucks that are clogging up our roads and damaging the roads along with extreme weather events which are caused by carbon emissions. By the way one of our single largest sources of carbon emissions is our transport system. What is the plan to change that?Hon SIMEON BROWN (Minister of Transport): I thank the member the Hon Julie Anne Genter for her question and I would just note that page 29 of the draft Government policy statement—and I'm happy to give her a copy—does include investment in public transport services does include investment in public transport infrastructure and does include investment in walking and cycling improvements. On this side of the House we think we should be investing in a range of transport modes. The reality is that for the last six years we've had a Government—ex-Government—which used to say We're going to build Auckland light rail and we're going to start it in 2021." Well they had six years and nothing happened. The last National Government started the City Rail Link and it's soon going to be completed and that is $5 billion of investment into our rail network in Auckland which is going to unlock significant opportunities for Aucklanders wanting to use public transport.So I am incredibly proud of our track record of delivering in public transport infrastructure because we actually got stuff started and we will get things done. I am incredibly proud of our track record when it comes to building roads because we started it and we will get things done. The last Government spent an awful lot of time talking about things talking about Auckland light rail spending $227 million on business case reports and consultancy reports and glossy documents and no delivery—absolutely no delivery. The members opposite say "Well what about Auckland?" Well what Aucklanders want and what Aucklanders voted for is delivery and that is what this Government is focused on."