Twyford Phil: Oral Questions — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeTwyford Phil: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 10 March 2015. Volume:703;Page:2031. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]7.PHIL TWYFORD (Labour—Te Atatū)to the Minister of Transport: Does he think his “deep commitment to Northland” has been demonstrated by the Government cutting spending on Northland roads by $36 million or nearly 30 percent over the last 5 years?Hon SIMON BRIDGES (Minister of Transport):Absolutely. The member should stop cherry-picking his numbers between discrete years. This side of the House has invested $750 million since it has been in office—40 percent more than that side of the House did when it was in Government—in Northland.Phil Twyford: I seek leave to table data from the New Zealand Transport Agency showing funding has been cut—Mr SPEAKER: Order! I just need to know: is that information that is freely available on a website?Phil Twyford: It is on the New Zealand Transport Authority website.Mr SPEAKER: Then I will not be putting the leave. If members want it they can get it.Phil Twyford: What does it say about his “deep commitment to Northland” when he says that the 10 Northland bridge upgrades would not be going ahead now if it was not for the by-election?Hon SIMON BRIDGES: I have not said that. These bridges are for everyone including Willow-Jean Prime even though the member would rather she stayed at home.Phil Twyford: Will the Government build the 10 bridges if National loses the by-election?Hon SIMON BRIDGES: Yes because we are deeply committed to Northland. That is why we have spent 40 percent more to date than the other side of the House who have not been to the regions in a very long time and who tend to keep themselves at the cafes of two or three cities only and that is why we are spending some $2 billion into the future. We unlike the other parties back the regions and we back Northland to succeed.Phil Twyford: Is he concerned about a backlash from local people who say that the first bridge on the list he announced yesterday is suspiciously close to the home of his own candidate and can he reassure people that that was not a factor in making that bridge a top priority?Hon SIMON BRIDGES: Yes I certainly can. The only backlash I heard about up north was about a dirty deal done behind backroom doors by parties on the other side. But our candidate—it is radical I know—actually lives in Northland. He actually lives near those single-lane bridges and he like me backs the north. We do not swan around—Mr SPEAKER: Order! The question has been answered.Phil Twyford: When the Prime Minister said yesterday that he did not know whether any cost-benefit analysis had been done on the 10 bridges did the Minister advise him that the cost of those bridges equates to about $10000 per vote according to recent polling and does that meet or exceed his criteria for a fair return on investment of taxpayers’ money?Hon SIMON BRIDGES: The bridges stack up. That is why three of them have been concluded and completed in the regional land transport plans for some time. That is why I have seen the safety issues the resilience issues firsthand why the people of Northland know they are needed and why we are backing that region.