Shearer David: Infrastructure Bill — In Committee 
Shearer David: Infrastructure Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:665;Page:12500] 
DAVID SHEARER (Labour—Mt Albert) 
: 
 It is a pleasure to rise and speak on the Infrastructure Bill as well. As my colleagues have said the Labour Party supports the first three parts of this bill but the last part on affordable housing which my colleague Moana Mackey will talk on later we certainly do not support. 
This bill is an important bill in terms of coordinating and safeguarding our infrastructure into the future. It is interesting to note the announcements made in the last few weeks and even today by the Minister of Transport—for example that the Newmarket Viaduct was due to open in record time as was the Mangere Bridge crossing. It is all good news and they were all projects put in place under a Labour Government. It is gratifying to go around when invited as an electorate MP to many of the railway stations that have been upgraded as a result of the Labour Government investing 15 times more in public transport infrastructure than was the case in 1999. 
Infrastructure is one of this country’s economic drivers. When we look at transport in 1999 1 percent of GDP was allocated to transport; by 2008 it was 1.6 percent. It went up under a Labour Government which said more or less what the National Government is saying today except that the Labour Government had 9 years to prove and show the difference it can make in infrastructure. 
Part 1 introduces a code that enables a much more coordinated approach to the corridors and main infrastructure routes that affect New Zealand. When we look at some of the priorities being set aside in relation to future pieces of infrastructure and particularly in my area in Auckland we see that one of the roads of national significance does not even meet the grade on a cost-benefit analysis of a dollar for dollar benefit. The Puhoi to Wellsford road is being pushed through as a road of national significance. It is that sort of wayward—and I would even go so far as saying irresponsible—type of infrastructure that means we are looking at a motorway that is not able to generate the returns and benefits to justify its cost yet we are putting in $1.6 billion possibly rising up to $2 billion to support it. That is a colossal and utter waste of money. Most people in Auckland know that. Pretty much everybody in Auckland knows that this is a road that will really only benefit those people going to their baches in the northern part of Auckland up in the Warkworth area at holiday times. 
It is an extraordinary waste of money—$1.6 billion. I think of what we could use $1.6 billion for and I will give members one quick example. Right now Auckland is expanding at the rate of one Wellington City every 8 years. Basically 180000 people are being added to Auckland’s population every 8 years. We need to be able to think about transport infrastructure and public transport infrastructure. The railway system needs to be substantially upgraded. The key aspect of the railway system is the inner-city underground loop that runs through the inner part of Auckland. This one project which we believe will cost about the same amount of money as the $1.6 billion for the Puhoi to Wellsford road—