4. Question No. 4—TransportCHRIS BISHOP (National—Hutt South) to the Minister of TransportQuestion No. 4—Transport4. CHRIS BISHOP (National—Hutt South) to the Minister of Transport: What criteria if any will Cabinet use to decide between the two competing approaches for Auckland light rail and will it still make the decision in February 2020?Hon PHIL TWYFORD (Minister of Transport): Cabinet will decide which of these two approaches it prefers and of course value for money will be central to that decision. The Government has also agreed the following objectives for the project: improved access to employment education and other opportunities through enhancing Auckland's Rapid Transit Network and integration with Auckland's current and future transport networks; optimised environmental quality and embedded sustainable practices; enabling of quality integrated urban communities especially around Māngere Onehunga and Mount Roskill; and a high-quality service that is attractive to users with high levels of patronage. As noted in the proactively released Cabinet paper I will report back to Cabinet in February 2020 with the findings of the parallel process with a view to Cabinet then taking decisions on its preferred delivery model.Chris Bishop: Do both the NZ Infra and New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) proposals for light rail involve a direct service to Auckland Airport?Hon PHIL TWYFORD: That is certainly the intent of the process that's been set out but the parallel process is under way and I haven't as yet been briefed on the plans that they're developing.Chris Bishop: Will light rail as proposed by NZ Infra's approach be able to carry 11000 commuters per hour the equivalent of four lanes of motorway which is one of the claims he has repeatedly said about light rail?Hon PHIL TWYFORD: The details of both approaches that are being developed are being developed and that process is under way so it would be premature to comment.Chris Bishop: So why when he spoke to the Building Nations Symposium in Rotorua in August to announce that there would be a parallel process involving the NZTA proposal and the NZ Infra proposal did he say that light rail will be able to carry 11000 commuters per hour?Hon PHIL TWYFORD: Because light rail rapid transit whether it's a streetcar model or a metro-style model is generally capable of carrying 11000 people per hour which is the equivalent of four lanes of motorway but it has the added advantage of being able to carry large numbers of people through some of the most built up parts of our urban centres.Chris Bishop: Is it correct as the then chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency board has said The market has advised NZTA that the current approach is seriously impacting the integrity of the New Zealand procurement process."; if so how?Hon PHIL TWYFORD: Sorry could the member repeat the exact phrasing of the question?Chris Bishop: Is it correct as the then chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency board says "The market has advised NZTA that the current approach is seriously impacting the integrity of the New Zealand procurement process."; if so how? Hon PHIL TWYFORD: No. Chris Bishop: Is it correct that the NZ Infra proposal has the potential to compromise the market's confidence in Government infrastructure procurement derail the Government's housing initiatives and—SPEAKER: That's two. The member's had two questions.Chris Bishop: It's a quote Mr Speaker.SPEAKER: Well no. You said "Is it possible" and then you—Chris Bishop: I said "Is it correct". Do you want me to—SPEAKER: Or "Is it correct." So—[Interruption] The member can have another supplementary if he wants to try again or the Minister can answer the question which was completed.Chris Bishop: I'll use the supplementary. Is it correct as the then chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency board wrote in an email to fellow board members "The NZ Infra proposal has the potential to compromise the market's confidence in Government infrastructure procurement derail the Government's housing initiatives and invalidate the Puhinui connection."; if not why not?SPEAKER: No. The Minister can answer any one of the four questions. Hon PHIL TWYFORD: No. None of those assertions are correct and I would note for the member that the private sector infrastructure community often asks that we be willing to entertain innovative financing and funding and procurement approaches. Our willingness to seriously consider the NZ Infra unsolicited proposal and an open-ended engagement with the infrastructure community around other ways of financing and funding and delivering this project is evidence of our commitment to doing precisely that: a commitment to be ambitious about infrastructure and open to innovative new approaches.SPEAKER: Just to make it clear because I saw some glances from members opposite when I interjected just before the Minister answered if someone's asked a question even including a quote which says "is it correct" and within the quote has three different issues—if the Minister can answer "yes no yes" or "yes yes no" or "no yes yes" that is three.Hon Michael Woodhouse: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. SPEAKER: That is an ongoing matter. There have been previous rulings on that area and—Hon Michael Woodhouse: Mr Speaker there was only one question and that is: is the quote correct? Now the—SPEAKER: No no. It's not the question "is the quote correct?"; it's "is what's within the quotation correct?". The Minister can't be responsible for whether it is an accurate quotation.Hon Michael Woodhouse: Speaking to that point that may be the case but the question itself was not out of order and the only point I'm making is that there was only one question. He could have disagreed with any part of the quote and that would have been a satisfactory answer. But it gets quite difficult accepting the point you're making about multiple issues when actually the question goes to the heart of the quote not the number of things that are inside it.SPEAKER: And the point that I made to the Minister was because there were three issues inside the quote and I think there was a tail on the quote an "if not why not?" or some extra thing. That is effectively four and a satisfactory answer can be to any one of them."