6. Question No. 6—TransportHon PAUL GOLDSMITH (National) to the Minister of TransportQuestion No. 6—Transport6. Hon PAUL GOLDSMITH (National) to the Minister of Transport: What major transport projects if any have been delayed significantly modified or cancelled since his Government took office?Hon PHIL TWYFORD (Minister of Transport): As the member knows the prioritisation of projects is a matter for the New Zealand Transport Agency based on the priorities in the Government policy statement. However I'm able to advise the member that no major transport projects that were under construction have been cancelled. The New Zealand Transport Agency re-evaluated 12 projects including the East-West Link which would have cost an eye-watering $327 million per kilometre. Instead motorists will see upgrades like median barriers and intersection upgrades and shoulder widening being rolled out across 670 kilometres of our State Highway network to save lives.Hon Paul Goldsmith: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker.SPEAKER: Yes I'm not surprised.Hon Paul Goldsmith: I asked What major projects". He told me there were 12 but that's not very helpful.SPEAKER: Well I think the Minister—I don't really want him to expand because the answer was longer than necessary but if he got directly to the answer for the areas for which he is responsible he would be more helpful to the House.Hon PHIL TWYFORD: The list of projects that have been re-evaluated include: Whangarei to Te Hana Cambridge to Piarere Pokeno to Mangatarata Piarere to Tauriko Waihi to Omokoroa Te Puna to Omokoroa Katikati Urban Tauriko West Ōtaki to north of Levin Pētone to Grenada and the Melling Interchange.Hon Paul Goldsmith: So what new major transport projects that have been designed to reduce congestion on our roads have been started since his Government took office?Hon PHIL TWYFORD: We have filled the $5.9 billion hole that the last Government left in Auckland's transport plan which includes projects like Mill Road rapid bus services from Pāuanui to the airport and the Eastern Busway and Penlink which are all funded and due to go ahead. We funded and futureproofed the City Rail Link in Auckland after the last Government didn't even adjust its costings for inflation or leave a contingency. The Transport Agency is now actually fulfilling its regulatory responsibilities to keep the public safe on the roads. Our Government is getting on with fixing the long-term issues in transport to save lives and get our cities moving again.Hon Paul Goldsmith: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. Again I asked a simple question—"What new major projects have been started?"—he didn't list any. He listed existing ones that hadn't been started.SPEAKER: I think he listed one road project and I'm not going to get into trying to establish from the Chair whether a project is a new project or not. The Minister is responsible for his answer.Rt Hon Winston Peters: Can I ask the Minister: on becoming the Minister responsible in his first month with respect to the much-vaunted four-lane highway between Whangarei and Te Hana how many dollars had been allocated to that plan?Hon PHIL TWYFORD: Well that's very interesting. The answer to that question is that the National Party had promised a four-lane expressway from Wellsford to Whangarei that would have cost $5 billion—more than the entire transport spend in one year—and not a single dollar was budgeted for.Hon Paul Goldsmith: Does he have any sympathy for Kiwis stuck in traffic who have seen 12 major projects delayed or downgraded but not one new project actually started?Hon PHIL TWYFORD: Well here is the number of roads that are being built: the Manawatū Gorge replacement route Mt Messenger Bypass the State Highway 1 loop road in Northland the Matakana link road the Awakino tunnel bypass the Gills Road upgrade and the Horsham Downs link road. The difference between our two polices is that we're investing billions of dollars across the entire transport system instead of pumping 40 percent of the transport budget into five handpicked gold-plated expressway projects which is what that Government did when it was in office—highway projects that carried only 4 percent of vehicle journeys.Hon Paul Goldsmith: Speaking of gold-plated—SPEAKER: Order!Hon Paul Goldsmith: Sorry Mr Speaker. Have the light-rail projects from City to Māngere and City to North West for which he announced $1.8 billion seed funding in May 2018 been delayed reset or recalibrated?Hon PHIL TWYFORD: The light-rail projects in Auckland which are part of our Government's commitment to building modern transport systems in our major cities relieving congestion and giving people genuine choices to move around our urban areas—those projects in Auckland—are to be considered by Cabinet and they will be considered but they are part of a commitment that we have to fix the urban transport systems and the deficit in infrastructure that we inherited from that party.Hon Chris Hipkins: Could all of the roads promised by the previous Government have been funded within the context of the Land Transport Fund over the next three years or within the current term of Parliament without any increase in fuel tax as has been claimed by some?Hon PHIL TWYFORD: The promises of State highways that were made by that party in the lead-up to the last election—SPEAKER: Order! Areas for which the Minister's responsible please.Hon PHIL TWYFORD: It would not have been possible to fund the projects that the member refers to without a very significant increase in fuel taxes and road-user charges. The Ministry of Transport advised the former Government that it would have taken a hefty increase in petrol taxes and road-user charges and the former Minister Simon Bridges received that advice on the eve of the last election.Hon Paul Goldsmith: Is the reason that the release of the business case for the light rail down Dominion Road has been delayed because they can't find anybody to come up with a strong business case that stacks up?Hon PHIL TWYFORD: No.Hon Paul Goldsmith: Does he agree with Auckland councillor Mike Lee's assessment "Mr Twyford's version of light rail is KiwiBuild on wobbly wheels."?Hon PHIL TWYFORD: Well it won't surprise the member to know that I don't agree with Mike Lee but I'm sure that the member understands there are literally dozens of cities around the world right now who are building rapid transit systems including light rail—six current light-rail rapid transport systems are under way in Australia alone—because all of these cities are building modern transport systems that give their citizens genuine options congestion-free options and provide mobility and access to the things that they need and these are issues that the Opposition doesn't even want to hear about.Hon Julie Anne Genter: Can the Minister confirm that the most effective way to improve travel speeds on the road network is to improve the travel speeds of public transport and that has been demonstrated in cities all around the world—the only way to help people get around on the roads is to improve rapid transit? [Interruption] Hon PHIL TWYFORD: I can.SPEAKER: No before that occurs I'd like the members who interjected during that question to stand up. [Several members stand] Right OK.Hon PHIL TWYFORD: I can assure the member that it is in fact an established principle of transport planning that the speed of public transport has a direct correlation to the speed of traffic because the better public transport services are and rapid transit the more likely people are to leave their car at home take the train or the bus allowing the motorways and the roads to move more freely. That is a fundamental tenet of our transport policy and it's why we're committed to building rapid transit infrastructure and modernising public transport in our cities."