Dunne Peter: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Dunne Peter: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:629;Page:1717] 
7.  
Hon PETER DUNNE (Leader—United Future) 
 to the  
Minister of Finance 
: Can he confirm that in accordance with the provisions of the confidence and supply agreement between United Future and the Labour-led Government and following the unequivocal recommendation in the recently released report of the Greater Wellington Regional Council/Transit New Zealand Hearing Subcommittee to proceed with the construction of a full four-laned Transmission Gully motorway instead of the proposed Coastal Expressway central Government funding which is available for the Wellington regional roading programme will be able to be used to fund the Transmission Gully motorway option? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN (Minister of Finance) 
: 
 Yes. 
Hon Peter Dunne 
: Does the Minister agree that the consultation process undertaken by the hearing subcommittee which resulted in “an unprecedented community response of 6017 submissions”—96 percent of which opposed the proposed coastal route and 82 percent of which supported the Transmission Gully motorway option—was so comprehensively thorough that it would be inconceivable for local and central government authorities to ignore the overwhelming public call for the funding and construction of the Transmission Gully motorway? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: I think it is fair to say that it would be difficult for any government—central or local—to ignore the weight of public opinion that supported the proposed route. 
Darren Hughes 
: Can the Minister confirm that no legal reason exists to stop the Transmission Gully motorway being funded over 20 years and that no law change would be required to achieve that even though the motorway could be built substantially within the next 8 years? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: I can confirm that no legal obstacles exist to stop the funding of Transmission Gully. 
John Key 
: Does the Minister intend to treat equally the confidence and supply arrangements with both United Future and New Zealand First given that both have implied roading commitments; if so does the progression of the Tauranga Harbour Bridge under the confidence and supply arrangement with New Zealand First mean that now that Transmission Gully has been endorsed as the preferred option it will also get the green light? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: The subcommittee has made that recommendation and the Wellington Regional Council and others have yet to make their final decision. 
Hon Peter Dunne 
: Has the Minister received any advice from officials or elsewhere as to why it is that contrary to public opinion in the region and contrary to the findings of both the hearing subcommittee and yesterday’s meeting of the regional land transport committee the Mayor of Wellington seems determined to go out on a course of one and oppose what 82 percent of people in the region support? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: No I have received no advice on that. But clearly there is still room for discussion and controversy surrounding the issue particularly given that although the route is now supported widely and has been modified in terms of the cross-connections there are still issues around supposed access to Wellington which is not improved by Transmission Gully itself. One still has come through the Ngauranga Gorge. 
Christopher Finlayson 
: Would the Government support the reintroduction of the Hon Peter Dunne’s 2001 Construction of Transmission Gully Highway Bill? 
Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN 
: No I do not believe in special-purpose legislation of that sort. I am confident that this Government will deliver significant improvements in the western corridor proposals unlike the previous Government which when it left office was building one-tenth of the roads in Auckland that we are building at the present time. We are ahead of target in respect of State Highway 20 and the Albany to Puhoi realignment.