Jones Shane: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Jones Shane: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:670;Page:17179] 
10. 
Hon SHANE JONES (Labour) 
 to the  
Minister of Transport 
: Does he stand by his statement that the $300 million bill for restoring the Christchurch road network will not be causing any “dramatic issues” and what is his time frame for the completion of this work? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE (Minister of Transport) 
: 
 Generally yes although I stress it is very early days and the $300 million figure has since been widened to $400 million and is simply the best rough estimate of the cost to repair the Christchurch road network at this point. In the context of the approximately $3 billion available annually in the National Land Transport Fund that current estimate is manageable and will not cause any dramatic issues in the shape of that fund. The cost is likely to be spread over 4 to 5 years but again I would say the timing is very much dependent on the extent of damage to underground services and the time frame for repairing that damage. 
Hon Shane Jones 
: The Minister told this House on 8 September that the damage to the State highway network from the first quake was $6 million to $10 million; can he now give us a revised figure that includes both levels of damage? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: I am doing this from memory but I think it was less than $10 million after the September quake and the number is in the order of $20 million following the 22 February quake for the State highway network. The local roading network is what it is in relation to the $300 million to $400 million figure. After the September quake the Christchurch City estimates for local road damage was around $185 million and that was subsequently revised down to $85 million earlier this year. 
Hon Shane Jones 
: Given the inevitable changes and stresses on the National Land Transport Fund as a consequence of the Christchurch earthquake has he informed the Mayor of Auckland Len Brown that the earthquake-related transport costs means his Government will not be supporting the mayor’s public transport aspirations such as the central business district rail link? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: No I have said to the mayor that the public transport aspirations for Auckland will not be any easier to fund—nothing will be easier to fund—as a result of the additional cost of the Christchurch earthquake. I point out to the member two things: firstly the Government has made no decision to fund that project at this point; and secondly it would not be funded from the National Land Transport Fund. 
Hon Shane Jones 
: Will the Minister abandon his favoured project otherwise known as the “Holiday Highway” and at a cost of $1.7 billion and divert those funds to the more valuable purpose of restoring Christchurch’s transport infrastructure? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: No. The Government will not be adjusting its roads of national significance programme except perhaps in relation to some timing matters. Those seven projects were chosen on the basis of their contribution to economic growth in New Zealand their improvement of journey reliability and their contribution to safety. I would have thought that the member as a Northland MP may have been focused on economic development in Northland but perhaps not.