6. Question No. 6—TransportDANA KIRKPATRICK (National—East Coast) to the Minister of TransportQuestion No. 6—Transport6. DANA KIRKPATRICK (National—East Coast) to the Minister of Transport: What actions has the Government taken to reduce temporary traffic management?Hon SIMEON BROWN (Minister of Transport): Well thank you Mr Speaker. Earlier this month I announced the Government is taking action to reduce expenditure on road cones and temporary traffic management while maintaining the safety of workers and road users. We're rolling out a new risk-based approach to temporary traffic management which will see less reliance on road cones requiring the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) to report publicly on how much taxpayers' money it's spending on temporary traffic management and we're appointing independent members to the Road Efficiency Group to manage the reduction in expenditure and ensure all road-controlling authorities are focused on this outcome.Dana Kirkpatrick: What reports has he seen on the excessive use of road cones on our roads?Hon SIMEON BROWN: Well I've seen a report from the New Zealand Transport Agency that shows why we need to crack down on the excessive use of traffic management. NZTA conducted a review of temporary traffic management at 800 maintenance work sites on the State highway network across the country in February and found that 145 of these sites were not needed revealing how out of control the use of road cones and temporary traffic management has become. Auckland Council Mayor Wayne Brown has also released a report showing that $145 million of expenditure has been incurred by his council group every single year. We need to get these costs under control.Dana Kirkpatrick: How will the Government's risk-based approach to temporary traffic management reduce the number of cones on our roads?Hon SIMEON BROWN: The new risk-based model is based on the Australian approach to temporary traffic management where there is far less reliance on the no longer humble orange road cone. This new approach will include changes to contracts and a new way of training and monitoring to ensure that this meets both safety and cost efficiency outcomes. NZTA is now also continually reviewing current temporary traffic management on the network and instructing its suppliers to remove temporary traffic management that is not required.Dana Kirkpatrick: Why is the Government requiring NZTA to report its expenditure on road cones and traffic management?Hon SIMEON BROWN: When I became transport Minister I asked NZTA to outline how much money has been spent by NZTA each year for the past three years on temporary traffic management and was advised this information was not available as it was not compiled. This is unacceptable. That's why the Government will be requiring NZTA and all road-controlling authorities to report quarterly on the amount of taxpayers' money they are spending so that Kiwis know how much of their hard-earned money is being spent on road cones and temporary traffic management. We need to get this cost under control and reduce the inconvenience on motorists.Hon Brooke van Velden: Can he confirm that one of the reasons New Zealanders are faced with a sea of orange road cones is unclear health and safety obligations and that's why this Government is going to make sure that our health and safety rules are clear sensible and proportionate to risk?Hon SIMEON BROWN: Yes and that is exactly why the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety is undertaking a review of the Health and Safety at Work Act to actually ensure that we are balancing the requirements to ensure our road workers are safe whilst also not inconveniencing motorists and increasing costs on councils and on the NZTA unnecessarily.