Genter Julie Anne: Estimates Debate — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeGenter Julie Anne: Estimates Debate — In Committee[Sitting date: 01 July 2014. Volume:700;Page:19064. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]JULIE ANNE GENTER (Green):Today the Government raised the petrol tax yet again. The reason it has had to raise the petrol tax is that there has been a deficit in the money that is coming into the National Land Transport Fund because New Zealanders are actually driving less. They have been driving less for 7 consecutive years now. There is not enough money coming in to spend on what the National Government wanted to make a priority.When the National Government came in I remember it very clearly because I was working as a transportation consultant for the New Zealand Transport Agency. I remember being there in 2008 when the people working at the New Zealand Transport Agency who are experts in this were saying it was very very disturbing because the National Government was coming in and wanting to prioritise a few very expensive motorways that simply did not make economic sense. They had not been funded for precisely that reason. So the National Party went ahead—it was in Government—and it decided to try to build a few of these big expensive motorway projects that carry a very small percentage of daily vehicle trips at great expense. It is spending the largest share of the transport budget over 10 years on these motorway projects. It is going to be $12 billion to $14 billion on just a few projects that carry less than 4 percent of daily vehicle trips. So the motorways are not going to improve the commute of the vast majority of New Zealanders. They are not even going to affect most of the freight that is being moved around the country.At the same time road use has been declining. It has been declining for a number of reasons around all the rich countries. One of the reasons is higher petrol prices. As petrol prices go up people look for alternatives. Of course in New Zealand they do not have many alternatives because successive Governments have built a very unbalanced transport system. Unlike comparable rich countries we do not have the same good public transport options—good buses and trains—and safe walking and cycling that they have in other countries.As petrol prices go up—and now the Government is putting up the petrol tax so that will mean petrol is even more expensive—road use does decline. It has been declining for 7 years now. So the Government had the option of perhaps revisiting its transport projects which it did not. Because there was not enough money in the transport budget to pay for the Government’s crazy motorway promises and to also do the standard upkeep that was needed on our regional roads the maintenance that was needed around the country the Government was then forced to put up the petrol tax firstly and that is what it is doing. It is also now using the money from asset sales to pay for projects in the regions. Some of these road projects in the regions might be of very high value. I do not know because the economic assessment is not available really on the website. I did see one project that has a benefit-cost ratio of 0.5 which means that it is not worth even half the cost of building it. Hopefully some of the other ones are very good projects that are going to improve road safety. The Green Party absolutely supports spending on our regional roads and putting more money into road maintenance in particular and safety upgrades.Now the Government has announced this regional package which apparently has been chosen—just like the roads of national significance—entirely by focus groups. That is simply not a responsible way to handle the transport budget. It is not one that is going to have long-term economic benefits for New Zealand. Although the Green Party does support looking after our regional roads and in fact getting better use out of our existing roads—and we can do that at low cost—we do not support this irrational irresponsible pork barrel politics approach to prioritising transport projects. That is clearly what the National Government has done.It is the perfect time to be investing in smart alternatives. That is what New Zealand is missing. All across the country it makes sense to invest in safe walking and cycling facilities so our kids can walk and cycle to school. That reduces congestion reduces the transport bill and it frees up the roads for those who need to drive. In our larger cities it makes sense to invest in better buses and trains so that more New Zealanders have the option of getting to work without having to pay a high petrol bill and so they can talk on the phone and get some work done instead of just sitting there behind the wheel stuck in traffic. That is the best way to deal with congestion. That is a smart modern green approach that countries all across the world have successfully implemented. We want to see more choices for New Zealanders here. That is what the Green Party is campaigning for. It is not unrealistic is it entirely achievable and it is really a shame that National is wasting this opportunity.