Sowry Roger: Land Transport Management Bill — In Committee 
Sowry Roger: Land Transport Management Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:613;Page:9744] 
Hon ROGER SOWRY (National) 
:  
The schedules are substantial and I want to talk about our amendments which we are hoping the Minister will support as well but before I do I want to raise an issue that has come to my attention. A special Automobile Association newsletter has just been put out and it rates the bill on 10 points. 
Hon Paul Swain 
: Who put it out? 
Hon ROGER SOWRY 
: The Automobile Association. I do not know whether the Minister has seen it. No? It appears that he has not. It rates the bill on 10 points and gives it two out of 10. 
Hon Paul Swain 
: That’s not bad. 
Hon ROGER SOWRY 
: The Minister says that is not bad—such are his aspirations. I do not want the Minister to go out of here and do what his associate Judith Tizard does—ring up the Automobile Association yell at them down the phone and tell them that if they ever criticise the Government again they will not get in to see her office and will never get to talk to her again. I want the Minister to listen to this constructive criticism by the Automobile Association and I am happy to table it at the end of this exercise so the Minister can read it. 
One of the things in the schedules is the fact that cultural interest groups take the place of road users on regional land transport committees. An analysis of the bill shows that cultural groups Maori groups—and a colleague from New Zealand First was talking about this just before—take the place of the road users on the regional land transport committee. I say to the Minister that that is outrageous and that is why we are moving some amendments to the schedules. Our amendments would delete clause 52A of schedule 1 and clauses 14 and 25 of schedule 2. The Minister might not have read these clauses. I will start with clause 52A which tells us that as part of its performance agreement Transfund has to state how it will enhance its relationship with Maori and as part of its statement of objectives it has to state how it will foster development of Maori. It actually has to spend road-user money to increase the capacity of Maori to contribute to Transit’s land transport decisions. So Transit New Zealand which is making the decisions about where the roads and designations are going to be has to spend money to bring Maori up to speed so they can contribute to the decision-making process at that point. We think that is a nonsense and we are seeking to have that provision deleted. 
With the new provision the Minister has put in the annual report of Transfund now also has to spell out how many opportunities it gave for Maori to contribute to the decision-making process. I say to the Minister that this is just political correctness gone absolutely mad. On the Kapiti Coast we have been waiting for the western link highway for 20 years. It has been objected to by the local iwi and it has been changed because of their objections. The road has been diverted it has been to the Environment Court and it has been upheld. It has been back through a process with iwi the designation has been changed again and it has been back before the Court. The Court has now approved it and now local iwi are appealing. I defend their right to put the district through that process. That is the iwi’s right. They are using the law as they are entitled to. No one is arguing against that. But to say that they need to have more money from the road account to fund their objection is nonsense. No one else gets that. The farmer whose land the road goes through does not get any special treatment from Transit or Transfund. No one worries about the farmer’s capacity to object. No one worries about the environmentalist’s capacity to object. They do not get any special treatment or any special funding. But Maori do now in the new clauses that the Minister in his politically correct nonsense is engaging in. 
I invite the Minister to take a call and say more than he said at the start of this debate which was that these amendments are largely technical. They are not technical. For the first time ever the Automobile Association of New Zealand has put out a special newsletter which I have in the House today. The Minister has just admitted that he has not seen it. It marks the bill two out of 10 and one of the crosses is because cultural interest groups are going to take the place of road users on regional land transport committees. That is the effect of these schedules. This means in the Wellington region that the Automobile Association or the truck drivers—people who use the roads—will miss out on having a say on that committee because they cannot be included but iwi get on. I do not mind iwi being on the committee but why is the Minister taking the others off? Why is he limiting the numbers so that those people cannot get on the committee but then giving special places to iwi? I wonder whether the Minister will try to defend that in the Chamber today or whether he will just sit silent again all through this nonsense. I want to know this from the Minister: how much do Transfund and Transit have to spend—it will be in their annual reports—to satisfy the Minister that they have spent money to increase the capacity of Maori to object to roading projects around the country? That is what they are doing—they are funding Maori groups in order to increase their ability to object to projects. That is now a statement in law that they have to adhere to as part of their statement of principles and as part of the annual report. 
Mahara Okeroa 
: Good one! 
Hon ROGER SOWRY 
: The Maori member says “Good one.” How much money do they need? How much will be approved? Will the member answer that? Is there a percentage of money that has to go or is it a dollar amount? Ah! The member says no they will not say that in the House. 
Hon John Tamihere 
: Ha! Ha! 
Hon ROGER SOWRY 
: The Maori member giggles away. 
Mahara Okeroa 
: Like I said we’re not going to put a benchmark on it. 
Hon ROGER SOWRY 
: Ah! He says it finally. There is no benchmark on it says the Maori member. Well if there is no benchmark why is it in the annual report? How can it be there and be reported on if there is no benchmark? That is absolute nonsense and the member knows it. At the end of the day the Minister has to hold them to account and he cannot do so with it being so loose. That is why the Automobile Association has put out this damning special report which is critical of the legislation. I want the Minister to read the document and undertake in the Chamber that he will stop Judith Tizard his associate from ringing the Automobile Association people and abusing them. The last time the Automobile Association put out a statement criticising the Government Judith Tizard rang them up and said that if they ever did it again they would not get in her office. She threatened them. I said to the Automobile Association that I would take that as a promise. I would not bother going into her office. I was surprised that they still wanted to see her. I say to Minister Swain that I know he does not throw his weight around like that Associate Minister does. I know that he does not do that but I want him to bring the rest of the dogs into line. I want him to make sure that we do not get this threatening bullying behaviour. I hope that he will take a call and explain that to the Committee because this situation is unprecedented. Never before has the Automobile Association put out a special document solely to criticise the Government. Never before has it done that. I know that this Government likes to control everything but finally people are starting to see through it.