Duynhoven Harry: Estimates Debate — In Committee 
Duynhoven Harry: Estimates Debate — In Committee 
[Volume:640;Page:10430] 
Hon HARRY DUYNHOVEN (Minister for Transport Safety) 
: 
 I am delighted that the graph that Maurice Williamson tabled is exactly as I expected. The graph is a fraud. It is the usual fraud that Maurice Williamson puts out as with the last graphic table which was the road toll. This graph is at 1.1 percent here. Down here it is at 0.8 percent. The baseline of this graph is down at the table level. As usual Mr Williamson has juggled and jacked up the figures. Can I give the actual figures for the benefit of National members? 
Dr Wayne Mapp 
: It’s on the graph. 
Hon HARRY DUYNHOVEN 
: Oh no not the actual figures. They are a percentage of GDP and members must remember that under Labour GDP has grown dramatically. Here are the dollar figures and we must remember that Maurice Williamson was talking about Auckland. 
In Auckland in 1999 there were $93.6 million worth of large State highway projects actually under construction. This year 2007-08 the large State highway projects either under construction or planned to be under construction in Auckland will be worth more than $1.6 billion. I think that is something over 12 times as much but certainly more than 10 times as much. 
There are many other key projects that have previously been made public. They include State Highway 18 between North Shore City and Waitakere City. Greenhithe has already been completed and Hobsonville has been started. The State Highway 1 northern busway has been completed and ALPURT B2 is progressing. State Highway 20 between Manukau City and Waitakere City Mount Roskill and the Manukau Harbour crossing is progressing. All those projects are on the go—$1.6 billion worth. Let us look at a few things that Maurice talked about and at what we have achieved in land transport. 
The CHAIRPERSON (H V Ross Robertson) 
: The member’s full name must be used. 
Hon HARRY DUYNHOVEN 
: Mr Maurice Williamson talked fondly about all the wonderful things done in his era. In the period when he was the Minister—I think he was the longest serving transport Minister in New Zealand; he has been around for about three decades—what did we see? We saw roading infrastructure run down—and rail infrastructure sold off and absolutely asset-stripped and coastal shipping demolished—and we did not see a huge change in the road toll. We saw it tracking down but not making anything like the progress we needed to make to get to a real world environment such as we would expect in a modern developed country. But we have had tremendous success in that. We have had success not only with the road toll—which last year was the lowest for 46 years—but also in aviation and in the maritime world and in recreational boating and so on. 
We have made a huge difference in reducing carnage death and suffering on the road in the air and on our waters. In addition we have put a huge investment into transport—not only into roads I tell Mr Williamson but also into public transport. Investment through Vote Transport has increased from $1.06 billion in the 1999-2000 year to $2.53 billion in the 2007-2008 year. That is an increase of 117 percent. 
Expenditure on transport and other votes including Auckland rail and the national rail network is also shown in Vote Finance. There is a $231 million provision to guarantee revenue levels for the National Land Transport Plan as announced in the 2006 Budget. Investment in passenger transport through the National Land Transport Plan has increased from $42 million—just $42 million in 1999-2000—to $263 million. Members should think on those figures and what they mean for public passenger transport. This year there is roughly in round figures a 500 percent increase. 
In all sorts of areas we have had to invest because of the neglect of the National Government in its term in office. Investment in State highway maintenance and construction has increased from $563 million in 1999-2000 to $1.09 billion this year which is roughly an 83 percent increase. We can look at all those things and say yes we can bandy figures around but what does that mean? I actually get complaints from people about the amount of road construction going on. In fact they say that their cars are always dirty. I never heard that in the entire period of the National Government. Indeed the complaints were exactly the opposite—nothing was being done. If we look further and ask what the benefit of this is we see that we are getting people out of their cars and into public transport which is reducing congestion in our main cities. 
In addition we are not only getting some of those back maintenance and neglected infrastructure issues solved but we are actually looking at structures for the future. We are looking at our development for the future and our infrastructure for the years ahead—we are planning ahead. For the first time we have had 10-year plans and that has caused us some grief because sometimes communities get very upset to find that their pet project is actually coming at the end of a 10-year plan. We have dramatically increased the amount of funding in order to make those 10-year plans function so that we can get some surety for people. 
Mr Williamson talked in National’s advertising campaign about the fact that roading monies were not all used for roading. The wear and tear on roads was supposed to be paid for by road-user charges relicensing fees and other charges such as petrol excise duties and so on but Mr Williamson’s complaint at the last election was that that money was not all going into roading. I can tell Mr Williamson that we spend $300 million more approximately per year right now than what we get from all the transport inputs into roading costs on our land transport infrastructure. 
Hon Ruth Dyson 
: Say that again. 
Hon HARRY DUYNHOVEN 
: We spend $300 million more than the total amount we get from road-user charges excise duties and relicensing fees etc. We actually budget $300 million per year more than that to go into land transport—into passenger transport and roading. So Mr Williamson is crying crocodile tears and far from being the saviour he is the guy who damn near wrecked it. He is the guy who proposed selling the roading network and there are certain things— 
Dr Wayne Mapp 
: That’s not true and you know it’s not true. 
Hon HARRY DUYNHOVEN 
: Oh not true? It is still going on and if the ladies and gentlemen of this Committee believe that National will not do it again I tell them they should think again. National will do precisely what it did in 1990. I was the one who sprang John Banks’ speech on the Christmas package that the National Party was going to do. We ran an advertising campaign accordingly in that election campaign which we had to take off air. We had to take it off air because there was no proof. We were too modest in our view of what the National Party’s destruction would be and we are now paying the price. We have a railway network for example in this country that is totally asset-stripped and we are having to spend millions and millions—in fact hundreds of millions of dollars—to rebuild it and to try to ensure that it is a reliable and safe railway network. [ 
Interruption 
] Sorry? 
Hon Tau Henare 
: Who awarded the knighthood to Sir Michael Fay? 
Hon HARRY DUYNHOVEN 
: I am not interested in Sir Michael Fay. I am interested in the dumb decision which at the time I said was a dumb decision by the National Party to sell the main transport infrastructure in New Zealand—the outfit that hauled over 50 percent of the line-haul bulk freight. That was National’s sale of railways in 1992-93. 
We cannot ensure that this country has a viable transport system without spending money. We are doing that and instead of hearing crocodile tears tonight from National’s transport spokesperson—at least I think he is National’s transport spokesperson but it has been a bit hard to tell recently—we should have had some praise for what we have done. So I tell the ladies and gentlemen in this Chamber and the many whom I am sure are listening to the radio that we have seen a tremendous increase in what this country has committed to its future transport needs. I am absolutely proud of that and I am proud to have had a small part to play in making it happen. 
Vote agreed to.