Brown Peter: Land Transport Management Bill — In Committee 
Brown Peter: Land Transport Management Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:613;Page:9733] 
PETER BROWN (Deputy Leader—NZ First) 
: 
 That was quite an enlightening speech from the Hon Roger Sowry. He talked about building roads for the economic benefit of this country. I remind members that National was in power for something like 9 or 10 years before Labour came in. 
Hon Lianne Dalziel 
: Nine long years. 
PETER BROWN 
: Nine long years—and it did nothing. In fact a former Minister of Transport stood in this Chamber yesterday afternoon and made two claims to fame. One was that he had split Transit into two to become Transit and Transfund—one being the practical side of roadmaking and the other being the funding side. In the commercial world that would be laughable and I question the need for a two-pronged attack so to speak. 
His second claim was that he produced a book:  
Better Transport Better Roads.  
I read the book with interest. As I recall it illustrated quite clearly that road design road fault was responsible for 15.1 percent of road deaths in this country yet the National Government did nothing—so much so that the Minister the Hon Maurice Williamson would not even turn up to the select committee to talk about the book! At that time I was a new MP in my first term and I was really disappointed by that. 
What we in this country have to do—and this bill will not do it—is to identify the problems identify the roads that need to be maintained and the roads that need to be built specify the timeframe in which we need to do all of that determine the cost and work on a system that will provide the finance. First and foremost New Zealand First advocates that the excise tax that goes from petrol into the consolidated account is used for the betterment of roads and the motorist. We accept that there might be some justification for not using all of it; there might be a genuine reason why some of it should be diverted to the consolidated account but we want to see the rationale. We want the report that the Minister referred to some months ago to be tabled so that we can understand the argument. We believe that Transfund should have the ability to borrow. I believe that it has it now but this bill seems to prevent it. If the funding is adequate—if we can get that 18.5c from the consolidated account and use it on roading—then our problem is well on the way to being solved. If it is not adequate then Transfund should borrow the money and we will repay the debt against future traffic volumes. Traffic in this country is increasing at a reasonable percentage and so is fuel use. We all know that. 
If all of that fails or none of it stacks up—but that is our first option—then New Zealand First is prepared to look positively at a regional fuel tax. In other words we could ask the motorist to pay a bit more to accommodate the concern. 
Clayton Cosgrove 
: How much? 
PETER BROWN 
: I keep coming back to it because I do not think that member over there quite understands things: first and foremost we want to use the 18.5c that goes from the petrol motorist into the consolidated account. We believe there is a legitimate reason for using it. 
Hon Lianne Dalziel 
: When the member’s leader was Treasurer what did he do then? 
PETER BROWN 
: I think the Minister asked what my leader did when he was Treasurer but she was eating at the time. I am not sure whether members are allowed to eat in this Chamber. 
Hon Lianne Dalziel 
: I’ve got a terrible cold. 
PETER BROWN 
: I do not think she can eat whether or not she has a cold. My leader did transfer some money from the consolidated account into the roading account. I do not know how many times we have to tell her that. In fact he transferred 2.1c a litre from the consolidated account into the roading account. The intention was to continue doing that. 
Jeanette Fitzsimons 
: How come that didn’t fix it? 
PETER BROWN 
: It was the first movement from the consolidated account to the road account for years.