2. Transport Infrastructure—Fuel Taxes and Funding PrioritiesHon SIMON BRIDGES (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime MinisterTransport Infrastructure—Fuel Taxes and Funding Priorities2. Hon SIMON BRIDGES (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by all her Government's policies and actions?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN (Prime Minister): Yes including the priorities we're placing around investing back in core services so we don't have situations like Middlemore.Hon Gerry Brownlee: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. You were very fast last week to prevent people from adding little bits to the end of a question. You made the point—if you've asked the question that's it. What we just saw from the Prime Minister was something you pulled other Ministers up for last week which was answering the question and then going on with a little bit more. So a little bit of consistency would be something that would be helpful to the order of the House.Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. SPEAKER: I'm going to ask the Prime Minister: is she really going to add to the order in the House or is she going to cause a further problem?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: It depends which way you're going to rule Mr Speaker.SPEAKER: Well what I'm going to ask is for the Hon Gerry Brownlee to be just a little bit more tolerant. That was a short answer with a very mild flick to an Opposition question not a Government patsy. Therefore I think it was well within the bounds of what all my predecessors would have accepted.Hon Simon Bridges: How will someone living and working in South Auckland benefit from the 25c a litre petrol tax for their petrol?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I'm assuming that's a reference to the Government Policy Statement on Land Transport which we're consulting on whether or not the investment we want to make off the back of 3c—up to around 3c a year something which I understand the Opposition has said that they would maintain. I'm happy to speak to how they would benefit because under this Government they're likely to be a family that on average would get $75 a week once our Working for Families changes come in in July.Hon Simon Bridges: Does she agree that the majority of the upwards of 25c a litre tax increase over the next decade will go to the tram to Auckland Airport?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: As I have said in this House previously the kind of example that that member is using is a family who currently doesn't have choices around how they move around their city. We need to give them choices and we also need to invest in that household as well. They need higher incomes better wages and they need decent transport. Under that Opposition apparently they would keep that same excise that we're planning.Hon Simon Bridges: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I asked a very clear question about whether the majority of that tax would go to the tram to Auckland Airport. She didn't even address that.SPEAKER: No I'm ruling she did. She certainly referred to giving Aucklanders choices as to their methods of moving around Auckland. I think that's close enough.Hon Simon Bridges: So will the majority of that petrol tax over the next decade go to the tram to Auckland Airport?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: No.Hon Simon Bridges: Does she agree that there's been a $5 billion transfer from roading to public transport in particular trams under that proposed Government policy statement (GPS)?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: No I do not. As I've pointed out in this House we are increasing the amount of funding that is going into regional transport and also local transport and also transport safety. That's because that's what we've prioritised while at the same time having only an 11 percent decrease in State highway improvements.Hon Simon Bridges: How can she possibly say that when her transport Minister just last week in this House accepted that $5 billion is being reduced from State highway improvements?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Because we are also putting more back into regional and local roads. Would the member like me to reiterate the cuts that that last Government made to those very same transport areas?SPEAKER: Order! The Prime Minister I think knows that she shouldn't be asking questions of the Opposition. [Interruption] Order!Hon Simon Bridges: What use is the tram to the airport to someone living and working nowhere near it in Auckland?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Again that's taking a very narrow view of what is a comprehensive plan to improve public transport across the Auckland network. As I say that is only part of what the GPS was about. It was also about making sure that we are increasing regional and local road improvements to the tune of $1.2 billion.Hon Simon Bridges: How will the several-billion-dollar City Rail Link be paid for does she think?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I'm assuming he's talking about the City Rail Link which he was very late coming to the party to support. We continue to support it and did from the very beginning.Hon Simon Bridges: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I asked how it would be paid for.SPEAKER: I will ask the Prime Minister to have another shot at that. How will it be paid for?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I imagine in the same way that the last Government pretended they were going to pay for it as well.SPEAKER: Question number—Hon Phil Twyford: Supplementary.Hon Simon Bridges: No no—I apologise Mr Speaker. I'm still going.SPEAKER: A point of order the Hon Simon Bridges.Hon Simon Bridges: No no—I've got further supplementaries. I'm sorry.Hon Phil Twyford: Does the Prime Minister believe that investing in a modern rapid transit system gives people transport choices enabling some people to leave their car at home during peak hour thereby allowing the roads to move more freely for everybody else?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Absolutely. That is our aspiration. Some will continue to choose to move by car but currently they are losing in productivity because of the excessive congestion in Auckland. We need more transport options and that's what this Government is focused on whilst also dealing with the regional neglect of the last Government.Hon Simon Bridges: How will someone in Manurewa in the North Shore or in west Auckland be able to leave their car at home when they're definitely not getting any mass rapid transit any time in the next decade and probably longer.Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: And we do have plans to extend the public transport network. The ability—[Interruption]SPEAKER: Order! Order! I'm going to ask members of the Opposition just to settle down. I had some hopes with a bit of a reshuffle that there'd be a little bit less noise from my immediate left; unfortunately that hasn't quite worked.Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: May I finish the question Mr Speaker. To finish the question what the member seems to be forgetting in pointing out the lack of transport options is that this is a Government that has been in for five months; that last Government for nine years neglected their lack of transport options.Hon Simon Bridges: What is the Prime Minister's position on the Ōtaki to Levin section of the lower North Island road of national significance?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: As we said when we made the announcement those projects remain on the same track they're on now and the New Zealand Transport Agency at the moment is still consulting on the route option—and consulting with the public.Hon Simon Bridges: Does she accept that $5 billion will come out of the State highway improvements class on her proposed Government policy statement?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: As I said last week in the House in the next three years State highway funding reduces by $500 million—or 11 percent—and regional and local road improvements increase by $1.2 billion.Rt Hon Winston Peters: Do any of the Prime Minister's comments or statements on transport include building 10 bridges that were promised by a certain gentleman—none of which have even been started?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Thank you for the question. In my understanding that may have actually been one of the oral questions that the Leader of the Opposition had to correct in this House for the very reason that they haven't been delivered.Hon Simon Bridges: Will she commit to the road of national significance from Ōtaki to Levin happening given its pre-existing status?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: As we said with everything that had that pre-existing status it's still going through the same process. And that is a decision for the board as it was three weeks ago before we announced this policy.