9. Question No. 9—TransportHon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE (National) to the Minister of TransportQuestion No. 9—Transport9. Hon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE (National) to the Minister of Transport: Does a separate structure for walking and cycling alongside the Auckland Harbour Bridge remain the Government's preferred option for the Northern Pathway; if not why not? Hon MICHAEL WOOD (Minister of Transport): Yes and alongside our work to advance an alternative Waitematā Harbour crossing we continue to look at the network and the programme for how to best give Aucklanders multimodal options to travel across the Waitematā. Hon Michael Woodhouse: Has he asked the Minister of Finance whether his comments yesterday that he wanted the Government to bring forward work on a second Waitematā crossing means a separate structure for walking and cycling is no longer the preferred option? Hon MICHAEL WOOD: I can confirm that on this side of the House as colleagues we talk to each other a lot about significant issues like this and that we've canvassed many issues in respect of how we ensure that Aucklanders have walking and cycling access across the harbour. Hon Michael Woodhouse: Is he still intent on proceeding with a $785 million cycle bridge as it is currently proposed as well as a brought-forward Waitematā crossing referred to by the Minister of Finance? Hon MICHAEL WOOD: I can confirm as the Minister of Finance did yesterday that work is already under way in terms of developing options for an alternative Waitematā Harbour crossing that is public transport - focused: $60 million was allocated in the Auckland Transport Alignment Plan this year for that very purpose. We continue to move forward with that project and we continue to move forward with options for enabling Aucklanders to walk and cycle across the harbour. Hon Michael Woodhouse: Has he discussed with any ministerial colleagues the possibility of scrapping the $785 million separate walking and cycling bridge? Hon MICHAEL WOOD: No. Ministers continue to discuss the options for ensuring that Aucklanders have good multimodal access across the harbour. At the moment Aucklanders are able to drive across the harbour. This Government believes that they should be able to walk and cycle and take public transport across the harbour. I would encourage the member to recognise that we only solve Auckland and New Zealand's transport problems if we get out of the old approach of thinking that every transport solution has to be about cars and giving New Zealanders options to move around in different ways. Hon Michael Woodhouse: Might the 62 days between the $785 million cycle bridge being announced and it being walked back make it one of the shortest-lived transport projects in recent history? Hon MICHAEL WOOD: No. Hon Michael Woodhouse: What does he say to the 81 percent of Kiwis including 75 percent of Labour supporters who think that he shouldn't go ahead with a $785 million cycling and walking bridge? Hon MICHAEL WOOD: Of course we all do look with interest at all public polls that are taken and my reflection on that particular poll would be that if the support for any Government project was as low as levels of support for the Leader of the Opposition then it would be in trouble. Hon Gerry Brownlee: That went well. SPEAKER: What? Hon Gerry Brownlee: Eh? SPEAKER: I don't think the member meant that did he?