Sharples Pita: Land Transport Management Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Sharples Pita: Land Transport Management Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:648;Page:16991] 
Dr PITA SHARPLES (Co-Leader—Maori Party) 
: 
 Tena koe Madam Assistant Speaker. There is an out-of-Parliament experience that a select group of MPs have on a regular basis as we go back to our homes. It is called the “rush-hour rock” a curious tradition in which over 1.4 million New Zealanders or about a third of our national population juggle and jostle for road space. 
This morning I logged on to aucklandtraffic.co.nz to see whether things had miraculously changed. I want to share some of the views of Aucklanders about the traffic flow in Auckland City. There is Shaun who says “I live in Pukekohe. Leaving at 6.30 a.m. each morning it takes me approximately 1.5 hours to get to Greenlane where I work.” Warren says “Auckland’s public transport system has the worst patronage in Australasia. There are more cars per capita in Auckland than any other city in the world.” Andrew says “Insufferable and Third World. I have lived and worked all around the world and this is my context. Major investment is needed quickly.” Juanita says “It is horrible every morning north bound and it is horrible every evening … south bound. That’s a possible total of 1½ to 2 hours a day … when I can spend that time at home with my kids. Not just that … I have to leave even earlier which takes time from my kids to get to work on time and leave way later than the actual time I work till … just so the traffic isn’t soooo bad … again more time away from home … I hate Auckland traffic …”. Is it any wonder that in the 2007 Quality of Life Survey the residents of North Shore Waitakere and Manukau are the least satisfied of all New Zealanders with their work-life balance? 
The Land Transport Management Amendment Bill is huge—huge in its scope and huge in its impact on New Zealanders. It sets out the Government’s high-level priorities for land transport puts in place a new system for the funding and planning of land transport and introduces full hypothecation of fuel excise duties to the National Land Transport Fund. The impact of two key issues addressed at the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee is alone significant: firstly the proposition that rail should be more integrated into the transport planning and funding framework; and secondly the tightening up of the rules and regulations around regional fuel taxes. 
But many other aspects of this legislation must be seen as being some of the most significant issues facing the nation. No discussion on this bill could begin without acknowledging that the development of public transport including walkways must be a key response to the dual challenges of peak oil and climate change. Across New Zealand 70 percent of our carbon dioxide emissions from transport occur in urban areas. Improved public transport systems will result in lower emissions greater oil independence less smog lower petrol bills and a greater quality of life given that the chronic road congestion could significantly diminish. We need to make a long-term investment to significantly reduce emissions by making our cities more walking and cycling friendly investing in high-quality bus services and innovative light-rail systems reducing our dependence on fossil fuels and reducing our relatively high levels of car ownership. The issue of investment—the economics of change—is the crux of the matter. 
In the medium to long term public transport will benefit lower-income earners by providing affordable transport as petrol costs continue to increase as a result of the global peak oil production crisis. In the face of this crisis our priority in the Maori Party has always been to ask what measures might be put in place to assist low-income earners with petrol price rises in the short term. Although we must significantly reduce oil dependency and strategically plan for the utilisation and development of sustainable energy resources we must equally be vigilant to ensure that all New Zealanders are able to access affordable transport options in a world where oil shortages will mean ever-escalating petrol prices. We will not forget the relentless pressure on working families on families living in severe and significant hardship. Homeownership education energy food and health care costs have also risen faster than the overall rate of inflation. Families are struggling to meet the cost of a basic standard of living. Our hospitals are facing the pressure of children suffering Third World diseases the origins of which have been clearly linked to overcrowding and income poverty. We will continue to speak out about poverty and the desperate conditions that many of our urban dwellers face. 
We must protect their interests at all costs so we will demand that the motorists who pay the extra tax are able to see a clear benefit from doing so in the form of additional public transport options including footpaths that the region might not otherwise get. There must be a clear relationship between the introduction of the fuel tax and tangible results—and quickly. In the case of Tamaki-makau-rau—Auckland—for instance we need to see progress made immediately in developing a high-quality rapid transit system incorporating an electrified rail service and the North Shore busway as well as a significantly improved network of public transport services right across the whole Auckland region. 
There are of course other groups that stand to benefit from the improvements to the land transport management system. The inaccessible nature of public transport was brought to the attention of the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee by CCS Disability Action. The concepts of participation accountability and non-discrimination against disabled people must permeate through land transport planning and funding. It is pleasing to see that specific provision is made for such groups to be included in the consultation rounds of regional transport committees. 
I have concentrated on Auckland in response to the concerns of my constituency in my capacity as the member of Parliament for Tamaki Makaurau. There is no doubt that the electrification of the Auckland rail system will be a major step forward for passenger rail services. The Ministry of Works had plans to electrify Auckland rail in the 1940s. The plans were shelved then just as they were shelved again in 1970. This is the third go at ensuring that the Auckland region is equipped with a world-class public transport rail service. Who would not support the decision to invest in new electric trains upgraded rail stations ferry terminals passenger information and integrated ticketing and other public transport capital projects? Putting it another way if it is a choice between fast clean quiet electric trains and old polluting diesel trains that are bursting at the seams at rush hour I know which locomotion I would be sitting on. 
Finally we are well aware that the controversy around the regional fuel tax has fuelled hot debate in our own party and across the motu—the land. I believe that the submission from the New Zealand Council for Infrastructure Development had some interesting things to say in support of the bill’s provision to enhance long-term integrated planning and funding of land transport in New Zealand. The submission suggested that we need to better integrate rail ports and freight transport logistics into transport planning. Given the need to keep the cost of consumer goods like food as well as the cost of public transport as low as possible this is a critical point that perhaps needs more work in the Committee stage of this bill. The submission also recommended that regional fuel taxes should be optimised according to the transport needs and priorities of a region not to a predetermined formula decided by statute. 
The stages that are required to secure approval for a regional fuel tax include sign-off by the regional transport committees the regional council and finally the Minister. In all of these stages the existing Local Government Act consultation process requires that tangata whenua and Maori communities be involved. We are satisfied that such a process is adequately robust to ensure that regional fuel taxes are committed to only if they will contribute to publicly supported and beneficial regional transport projects. 
During the select committee process of this bill the regional fuel tax regime was tightened up. This resulted in a decision that the regions are unable to implement a regional fuel tax without the prior permission of the Minister. But the other key change was that the maximum amount of 5c for roading has been amended and clarified to include carriageways bridle-paths and footpaths. This created a much broader definition of roading that effectively includes within it all but a handful of public transport and freight terminal projects. 
We will not shirk from being outspoken in caring for the interests of those who are suffering. We are enthusiastic about getting people off the roads improving the public transport system and making a long-term investment in the quality of life of New Zealanders while at the same time enhancing the quality of our global environment. Thank you Madam Assistant Speaker.