Williamson Maurice: Local Government (Auckland) Amendment Bill — In Committee Third Reading 
Williamson Maurice: Local Government (Auckland) Amendment Bill — In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:618;Page:14050] 
Hon MAURICE WILLIAMSON (National—Pakuranga) 
: 
 That speech was a very sad defence of a very sad bill. In it the Minister talked about the courage and bravery of a solution. The fact that Auckland is screaming out for a solution is not in doubt. However I challenged him during the Committee stage last night and I issue the challenge again: “Come with me on Friday night at 5 o'clock down into the mangled stopped traffic jam—the sort of moving car parks—and let us put on our red-flare jackets to do a survey. We’ll knock on the windows of the cars and ask the people in them: What do you think should be done to fix Auckland's traffic problems?". I double-dog dare the Minister to do that. I guarantee—indeed I will put up 20 bucks—that not one person who winds down a window down will say: “I know what we need—another bureaucracy. That would fix it.” I guarantee no one would say that. Yet that is exactly what this legislation is about. 
The real significant difference between the left and the right in politics on this issue is that National is unashamedly supporting the building construction and completion of new roads. The Minister did not say the word "roads". The left do not even like the word. The Greens cannot bring themselves even to say the word "roads". They think it is evil. They do not like roads or the things that drive on them. They do not even like the people who drive in the things that drive on the roads. 
There was no more telling evidence about what the Government's view on roads in Auckland is than the press release that came out when this package announcing the intent to put this legislation into the House came out on 12 December. I have it here in its glorious blood-red Labour Party colours. I am happy to report that during the Committee stage I read this out and given that Auckland's drive-time traffic will still be stuck in their cars I would like people to hear this again. The Minister said: “I think everyone agrees that the present governance arrangements for Auckland's transport are confused inefficient and ineffectual." Given that one I think that is right. There are 18 bodies—that is right 18 various bodies—responsible for Auckland's transport solutions at present. There is a plethora of them: Auckland Regional Transport Network Ltd TrackCo the seven territorial authorities Auckland Regional Council Infrastructure Auckland Connex the ferries and so on. Everyone knows that. The wiring diagram was appalling and the Minister was right—hopeless. Then he goes on to say: “The Government proposes that responsibility for Auckland transport issues”—now this is the real thing—“such as rail bus ferry pedestrian and cycle transport reside with but one organisation.” That is from the Minister’s own press release. There is not a mutter not a mention of roads. 
The Government does not think roads are part of Auckland’s solution. “Walking will fix it.” I heard Jill Pettis yell out to my colleague Wayne Mapp when he was speaking about the Esmonde Road congestion—“Make them walk.” We will have to put up a big sign at Esmonde Road during the next election campaign stating: “Labour thinks you should all be walking.” That will be a great sign. We will have the  
Hansard 
 to show it—“Labour’s senior whip says that to fix the Esmonde Road congestion problem you should all be walking.” We are just adding one more body called the Auckland Regional Transport Authority. 
I again double-dog dare the Labour Party to survey ordinary people in Auckland on what they think all the organisations are. The other night I mentioned something called “ARTNL” to my wife who takes a modest interest in this matter and she asked: “What’s ‘ARTNL’?” I said: “Don’t you know what ‘ARTNL’ is? It is one of the most important elements for infrastructure and transport issues in Auckland.” She had never heard of it. She had heard of the Auckland Regional Council—the “ARC”—because she gets the rates demands that are going through the ceiling all the time. And another survey we need to run in Auckland should be: “Who trusts the Auckland Regional Council to solve Auckland’s transport issues?”. 
Dr Wayne Mapp 
: Paul Adams. 
Hon MAURICE WILLIAMSON 
: No one not even Paul Adams trusts it. Yet what organisation has been given the total power and control of this at least in the hotchpotch mismatch that is coming out of the Auckland Regional Transport Authority? It is coming under the control of the Auckland Regional Council. The one failed body that no one would trust to solve Auckland’s problems gets it. 
Dr Michael Cullen said something interesting just before we began this morning. He said that the biggest issues in Auckland are things like State Highway 20—the Mangere motorway which sort of stops at both ends. I think he is right. Dr Cullen and I agree on a number of things and this is one of them. The biggest issue in Auckland right now is State Highway 20 and getting the southern end of it joined up to the southern motorway in Manukau City pushing on through Mt Roskill and adjoining the north-western motorway. I agree with him. Does Auckland Regional Transport Authority have any responsibility for State highways? Does this new entity that is created by this legislation we are passing under urgency in the dead of day right now have any responsibility for State Highway 20? No it does not. It is a Transit road a State highway road and it will still be the “same old same old” as before. 
Aucklanders are now saying—and the Automobile Association survey shows this in great depth—that the private sector will have to be involved in building a huge amount of roading and that that roading will have to be tolled. We need to go to no further a jurisdiction than Sydney Brisbane or Melbourne for examples. All those cities have left-wing Labor Governments. I am not sure whether people understand that roading over there is funded at State Government level. I have spent a lot of time with Carl Scully the Minister for Roads in New South Wales and he said that the only solution to their problem was to haul the private sector in and get it building—let the private sector build the tunnels the south-eastern extensions the western links and so on. It works brilliantly. Some people think Australians and New Zealanders are very different—that Australians are funny and so on—but it has worked brilliantly for Australians under a Labor Government. 
Where is the incentive in this legislation for getting the private sector involved in roading? We have seen no interest so far and again I tell the Labour Government that this legislation will do nothing. That is simply because Labour has rolled over and played dead to keep its coalition partner the Greens happy. The Greens hate roads. They will not bring themselves even to say the word “roads”. They will say ”cycleways” “walkways” and ”walking buses”. Forget building a motorway—the Albany to Puhoi realignment B2 to Orewa North—and from where the B1 finishes to Whangarei we will just have walking buses. Jill Pettis will probably sign up to that. It is madness. Yes public transport initiatives will be important and the vast bulk of those will come through buses but Labour has not worked this one out: what do buses travel on? 
Dr Wayne Mapp 
: Roads. 
Hon MAURICE WILLIAMSON 
: Wayne Mapp got it just like that and Labour still cannot answer. 
Darren Hughes 
: He’s got a PhD. 
Hon MAURICE WILLIAMSON 
: That is right. Maybe Labour should get some people with PhDs to advise it. Buses travel on roads and that is why Auckland needs more roads because even the public transport solution comes from roads. What percentage of Auckland’s public transport-users right now use rail? Firstly rail hardly goes to anywhere that the people live. Howick and Pakuranga where I am from does not have a railway line. We do not want one—just in case anyone is getting excited and thinking we might start to build one out there—because the costs of building one are astronomical and the subsidy per person is crippling. 
Again the Greens will never stump up to this next issue: name one city the size of Auckland where rail works. They will come up with London Hong Kong and New York where rail works well. I am sure that if we had 7 million people between Ponsonby and Parnell we would have a wonderful underground railway system. It would be brilliant it would work and it would actually be profitable. But with Auckland’s population of only 1 million spread across a huge block of land and the trips going in all directions rather than focusing on the central business district as they are in Wellington rail is not a solution. It is less than about half of 1 percent at present. Even with the most optimistic outlook it would be about 1 percent. But no the Greens say they want to get everybody on to public transport. Of course they do not use it. The Greens drive their cars to every public meeting they attend. They like to do that. They think it is the great unwashed out there who should use public transport. 
I repeat: the major difference between the National Party and the Labour Government regarding this point on transport is that we believe Auckland’s roads need to be built and built now. The network needs to be finished and we need to see what was planned many many years ago come to fruition. Dr Cullen’s comments on State Highway 20 were right. 
The last thing I find so galling—and members of this House should be appalled by it—is that while Auckland has been screaming out for new infrastructure to be laid and while the private sector has been shut out by dreadful legislation like the Land Transport Management Act Transfund has a surplus of $250 million in its kitty unspent. I want the next Labour speaker to justify why $250 million is sitting in the bank unspent today while we are passing stupid legislation to increase the bureaucracy in Auckland. 
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