11. Question No. 11—TransportCHRIS BISHOP (National—Hutt South) to the Associate Minister of TransportQuestion No. 11—Transport11. CHRIS BISHOP (National—Hutt South) to the Associate Minister of Transport: Does she stand by all her statements policies and actions?Hon PHIL TWYFORD (Minister of Transport) on behalf of the Associate Minister of Transport: Yes in their original context.Chris Bishop: Has she or her staff talked to the Minister of Transport Phil Twyford or his staff about the release of her 26 March 2019 letter to him?Hon PHIL TWYFORD: On behalf of the Associate Minister yes. We talk about almost everything in relation to the transport portfolio including requests for correspondence that passed between us.Chris Bishop: Does she think her letter to Phil Twyford of 26 March 2019 had any influence on the final Let's Get Wellington Moving package agreed by Cabinet; if so what was that influence?Hon PHIL TWYFORD: On behalf of the Associate Minister the way that we run the transport portfolio is to have frank and robust exchanges of views on all these things. I'll say this about the Minister. He doesn't always agree with the views of the Green Party he often doesn't agree with his own officials but he does make sure we have a frank exchange of views to inform the best possible decision-making.Chris Bishop: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. That was a very specifically worded question about influence on the final package that went to Cabinet. There was a lot of material there about robust conversations but not a lot about whether or not the Associate Minister considered that her letter had any influence on the Minister and the final Cabinet consideration.SPEAKER: Yeah I can see what the member's getting at but I think the question was addressed.Chris Bishop: Does her 26 March 2019 letter to Minister Twyford implicitly or explicitly refer to her considering her position as a Minister if the project sequencing in the draft Cabinet paper went ahead?Hon PHIL TWYFORD: On behalf of the Associate Minister no not in any way.Chris Bishop: What is her response to Daran Ponter deputy chair of the Wellington Regional Council Sustainable Transport Committee who said this morning Let's see what it is she had pushed for and the direction that she has changed because the things that have arrived on Wellingtonians' plate in relation to Let's Get Welly Moving are certainly not the things that they identified as projects they wanted when it went into the parliamentary process."?Hon PHIL TWYFORD: On behalf the Associate Minister no I disagree with Daran Ponter. I think he's suffering from election fever. I agree with the comments of Wellington City Mayor—SPEAKER: Order! Order! I think there's two points that I want to make: first to remind the Minister answering the question that he is answering it on behalf of another Minister and should be using her voice as he does that and the second point is the Minister should be careful about reflections on persons outside the House who cannot answer.Hon PHIL TWYFORD: On behalf of the Associate Minister I don't agree with councillor Daran Ponter but I do agree with Mayor Justin Lester who said that Wellingtonians wanted to get on with the project and that's what they're doing. In response to the second part of the member's question the overwhelming tenor of the public responses to the public engagement carried out for Let's Get Wellington Moving was that the people of Wellington wanted to see a project that delivered walking and cycling rapid transit public transport. We've landed a $6.4 billion transport investment that will unlock the growth potential of this city—something that that party failed to do for nine years. Chris Bishop: When she quoted the Chief Ombudsman's comments about political consultation yesterday as a rationale for not releasing her letter to Minister Twyford was she implying she wrote that letter not as an Associate Minister of Transport but merely as a Green Party MP? Hon PHIL TWYFORD: On behalf of the Minister no. It's the convention of Government that letters between Ministers and indeed letters between governing parties are not released. We don't intend to change that convention.SPEAKER: Well I'm prepared to let the member have another question.Chris Bishop: Is she seriously saying to the House that letters between Ministers about matters such as a $6.4 billion 20-year plus transport project for Wellington are not by convention released for public comment and consideration? Hon PHIL TWYFORD: On behalf of the Minister what I was saying when I cited the Chief Ombudsman's recent opinion on political consultation is that political consultation is vital to good governance and good decision-making and that's even more the case in the MMP era. That's what the Ombudsman said.Chris Bishop: Can I have another one Mr Speaker? SPEAKER: Well you're allowed another one but you've probably—no. I've given you one extra."