5. Transport Infrastructure—Funding for Roads and Other Transport ProjectsHon STEVEN JOYCE (National) to the Minister of FinanceTransport Infrastructure—Funding for Roads and Other Transport Projects5. Hon STEVEN JOYCE (National) to the Minister of Finance: Does he stand by his comments last week that the Government will seek to reprioritise spending programmes of the previous Government and is investing in new roads one of the programmes that will be reprioritised?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON (Minister of Finance): I stand by my statement that Ministers will look at whether there are areas of spending committed to the previous Government that do not fit with the new Government's priorities. This is important work especially in light of the previous Government's predilection for failed ideologically and politically motivated policies. I am expecting all Ministers including the Minister of Transport to take part in that exercise and final decisions on reprioritisations will be made as part of the Budget process.Hon Steven Joyce: Does he agree with the Prime Minister who said yesterday and I quote for instance in roading we don't consider it a priority in line with what we want to achieve as a government."; and if so is he preparing to use petrol taxes for other capital investments or other operating spending outside of roading?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: In answer to the second part of the question we've been clear that the petrol tax that we allowed the Auckland Council to put in place is the extent of our ambition there. What I can say is that we won't be continuing with the process of the East-West Link as announced by the National Government which would have cost $327 million a kilometre making it the world's most expensive road more expensive than the Sochi to Krasnaya road which was described by locals at the time as it would have been cheaper to put foie gras and truffles down rather than tarseal.Hon Steven Joyce: Coming back to the matter at hand is it his intention to continue hypothecation of petrol excise tax and road-user charges revenue into the National Land Transport Fund?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: Yes.Hon Steven Joyce: Will he then insist that the revenue obtained from the regional fuel tax in Auckland also be hypothecated to transport projects of the Auckland Council?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: That is something that the Auckland Council is working on but my expectation would be yes.Hon Steven Joyce: What spending restraint and cost controls will he insist on as finance Minister as a condition of the Auckland Council being able to impose a $150 million per year fuel tax on Aucklanders so it is actually spent on transport projects?Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: We're working closely with the Auckland Council to ensure that the massive funding gap that the National Government allowed to grow in the Auckland transport plan will be closed and we are very confident that with a Government that is actually ambitious for modern transport solutions in Auckland we can form a partnership with the council to achieve those outcomes for Aucklanders.Hon Steven Joyce: Given that the Auckland Council's turnover has gone up hugely in the last four years and that its wage bill has gone up hugely and Aucklanders are quite suspicious about its spending of their ratepayers' money how can he reassure Aucklanders that the money from the regional fuel tax won't go the same way when that is the record of—Mr SPEAKER: Order! The member had a question. He had two unnecessary bits before the question. I think we'll just let the Minister answer the question.Hon GRANT ROBERTSON: We are working with the Auckland Council to ensure that we fill the massive funding gap left by the previous National Government. I can tell the member one thing we won't be doing: we won't be forcing the Auckland Council to sell assets in some mad ideological experiment as he wanted to do."