Kedgley Sue: General Debate 
Kedgley Sue: General Debate 
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SUE KEDGLEY (Green) 
: 
 In listening to the debate in the House today one would think that the only important thing in New Zealand—the only thing obsessing New Zealanders—is the leaking of emails. The New Zealanders whom I have talked to are sick and tired of worrying about who leaked which email because they actually have other things on their minds. 
I want to talk about one of those things today and I am glad to say that it is not just on my mind but is on the minds of other intelligent MPs in this House—MPs such as Maurice Williamson who I am delighted to see sitting in the House today. We are talking today about an icon of Wellington—Mark Blumsky will acknowledge that that is what it is. It is a dilapidated icon but an icon nevertheless—namely Wellington’s trolley bus fleet. Maurice Williamson to his great credit got the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee to write a letter—very unusual—to Stagecoach stating that in the current environment with New Zealand having to meet strict emissions targets under the Kyoto Protocol with the Government’s desire to increase use of public transport and with the fact that trolley buses are a Wellington icon and have huge public support it would seem foolish to do anything to hinder the continuation of the service. 
But the extraordinary thing is that this icon—the trolley buses of Wellington—is being put at risk by none other than the body set up to promote and encourage sustainable transport Land Transport New Zealand. Trolley buses use renewable energy: they use electricity and they could use wind. They reduce our dependence on oil they are non-polluting and they do not emit particulates. 
Mark Blumsky 
: They’re quiet. 
SUE KEDGLEY 
: Mark Blumsky adds that they are quiet. But their future is at risk because Land Transport New Zealand is refusing to fund them fairly. It is refusing to fund 50 percent of their cost as it funds other forms of public transport. This is creating a Mexican stand-off and therefore the long-term contract for the trolley buses has already been put off by 15 months and is in danger of being put off for another year. Indeed the Wellington City Council is having to say that because of the stubborn and incomprehensible funding formula used by Land Transport New Zealand it may not be able to continue with its trolley bus fleet and may have to switch to diesel buses. I call on the new Minister of Transport Annette King who has trolley buses in her electorate to intervene in order to end this Mexican stand-off. She should require Land Transport New Zealand to fund the trolley buses properly. Smart and sustainable cities such as Vancouver San Francisco and Rome are falling over themselves to invest in and expand their trolley bus fleets because they know that trolley buses do not require fossil fuels are non-polluting and are therefore an ideal form of public transport. 
Land Transport New Zealand has a wonderful objective of promoting sustainable transport. It funds 100 percent of the maintenance and capital costs of roads. Why is it not funding 100 percent of the capital costs and maintenance of public transport? It should be at least funding 50 percent of the costs of public transport. I repeat my call to the Minister of Transport who may not have been listening earlier to call a meeting of interested parties and intervene to save the trolley bus network in Wellington. She does not want to be known as the Minister of Transport who allowed the trolley bus network in Wellington to be put at risk and collapse. She will not want that to happen so she needs to step in and make sure that the trolley buses in her electorate remain. She must realise that there is cross-party support for this cause in Wellington and she must intervene. 
Stagecoach is saying that it is prepared to spend $30 million on refurbishing the trolley buses but it cannot do that because a contract needs to be signed to ensure the buses’ future. Vector and all of the parties involved want to fix the ageing infrastructure. The trolley buses are 22 or 23 years old. They are dilapidated and are becoming unsafe. Their brakes are old and so are their windscreen wipers. They are literally at risk. I call on the Minister to intervene to solve this crisis.