Adams Paul: Local Government (Auckland) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Adams Paul: Local Government (Auckland) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:616;Page:12471] 
PAUL ADAMS (United Future) 
: 
 Well they say “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.” United Future is happy to support this legislation because it is another bite at the elephant of our roading system that is Auckland. Auckland is a great city. It is a progressive city. It is a fantastic city to live in. The Aucklanders I speak to are happy Aucklanders because as they look out of their windows they can now see progress; they can now see that the roads are starting to get built. I must commend those who have begun to design our roading system. “Spaghetti Junction” for example is not an easy place to increase the size of the roads yet it is being done. I see it happening on a day-to-day basis. 
I hear my dear friend the Hon Nick Smith criticising this Government on the progress of Auckland’s roads. I wonder how members of the National Government even dare to open their mouths and criticise progress on Auckland’s roads because I remember that absolutely zero happened with regard to Auckland’s roading problems. If they had had the foresight and been visionary enough to look down the corridors of time to see what that money which was transferred to building roads in the South Island instead of building roads in Auckland would have done in the progressive city of Auckland—the hub of the country—we would not have had the same problems as we now have. 
It is very easy for Mr Smith to criticise. When I watch sports I am often amused to hear spectators—those who would never ever dare to play the game—criticise. That is very easy to do. But to get in begin to make a difference and move ahead is an entirely different matter. United Future as a progressive centralist party is pleased to get behind legislation that gets things done and it supports this bill. 
We all recognise that there are major transport infrastructure problems all over New Zealand as a result of years of neglect. I say that Auckland because of its size and its importance to the economy as a whole is a good place for the rebuilding process to begin. Auckland is a great city but our strength can often be our weakness. Too much is happening up there and the roading system cannot keep up. 
The only thing that concerns me and nobody has yet brought it up is that when we get these fantastic roads one might say that it is costing the economy a billion dollars. But once our roads are freed up I hope we do not have too many speed cameras on them. We could perhaps consider raising the speed limit to a sensible 120 kilometres an hour on those great roads so that we do not have to have such a huge amount of money coming in from unfair fines. 
But I digress. One of the major roadblocks to getting Auckland moving has been the lack of an integrated approach to transport planning in that region. It is not a committee or a council that gets things going—it is the people who are put on those organisations. When one has visionary progressive people in an organisation that is when things begin to get going. Previously each council has promoted its own pet project resulting in endless squabbling delays and eventually inefficient outcomes. 
That is what Aucklanders are very tired of. They are sick of the talk and are glad to see that finally things are beginning to happen around roading. The changes in transport governance that this bill promotes are designed to solve that problem by integrating the decision-making progress underpinning the development of Auckland’s land transport infrastructure. As we heard from Mr Nick Smith National may have been spending money but it was obviously spending it in the wrong places. I think that the next National speaker should perhaps stand up and apologise to Auckland for that. 
As we have heard the overall responsibility for land transport strategy will continue to reside with the Auckland Regional Council but a new council-controlled organisation the Auckland Regional Transport Authority known as ARTA will be established to undertake and coordinate the actual planning funding and development of Auckland land transport. There are always some pluses. Aucklanders are very innovative and creative people. We sit on our motorway structure and are at times entertained by the windsurfers sailing down the harbour. But we are tired of watching them now and we are glad to see that the traffic will get moving again. 
Under this legislation the Auckland Regional Transport Association will be required to prepare a land transport programme for the Auckland region which will detail all its planned activities and set regional priorities for each specific activity. 
Simon Power 
: Speak from the heart. 
PAUL ADAMS 
: I am speaking from the heart. 
Simon Power 
: Well get on with it. 
PAUL ADAMS 
: This is my heart and I am speaking from my heart. 
Funding will still come from Transfund the Auckland territorial authorities and the Auckland Regional Council as it does now. But the spending of that funding will be properly coordinated. The Auckland Regional Transport Authority will determine those priorities so hopefully local policies will be kept to a minimum in this decision-making process from now on. I only wish the same could be said for other woefully underfunded and poorly coordinated regions such as Wellington. 
We also need to think of things that can very simply be done with our roading system to speed up the movement of traffic. For example somebody mentioned carpooling. One of the major problems with our carpooling system in Auckland was that we failed to recognise that two people constituted carpooling. Therefore it did not kick in like it should have done. If we bring carpooling back into Auckland I believe we should say that it means two people sharing a car. Imagine if everybody took one extra person—and I am speaking from my heart—we could halve the number of cars on the road. It was often not practical to pick up that third person we had in our previous carpooling system and I think that was one of the major reasons why the system failed. 
Another thing that would be vital for Auckland and would really help the traffic flow would be to number our motorway exits as is done in many parts of the world. One would say to somebody: “If you want to take the Northcote turnoff you look for the No. 3 exit.” or: “If you want to take the Barry’s Point Road turnoff it is the No. 4 exit.” All the motorist would have to look for would be a simple number on the side of the road. Much congestion is caused on many roads because people are having to slow down to see where they are going. I have been so inspired to speak from my heart that I am getting away from my notes and I will not be able to cover it all. 
The settings of the new administration structures for managing the development of Auckland’s land transport infrastructure will enable the Government to implement the $1.62 billion Auckland transport funding announcement made in December. That of course is the 5c per litre increase in petrol excise duty. United Future continually says that we need to be more integral in what we take off motorists to fund roads and the money should not go into the consolidated account. It should flow into the roading systems and we will continue to press for that to happen. United Future supported that announcement and we support this legislation. New Zealand’s land transport infrastructure is in a very poor rundown state and even the injection of $1.62 billion is only a small part of what will eventually be required to remove this intolerable drag on our economy and really get things moving again. 
Ever since the election we in United Future have made it a priority to work with the Government to find alternative sources of funding for rebuilding New Zealand roads and to develop the regulatory structures needed to allocate the funding in a strategic coordinated manner. We worked with the Government on and supported the passage of the Land Transport Management Bill. We see the passage of this bill today as another step in that vital ongoing process. 
Auckland is New Zealand’s largest city. It is a great city and a vital part of our economy and getting it moving again must be a key priority. Economic prosperity is vital for the future and wellbeing of New Zealand families and ensuring future prosperity for New Zealand families is and will continue to be United Future’s main goal.