6. Question No. 6—TransportHon JULIE ANNE GENTER (Green) to the Minister of TransportQuestion No. 6—Transport6. Hon JULIE ANNE GENTER (Green) to the Minister of Transport: Is he confident the draft Government Policy Statement on land transport will give effect to the transport targets identified in this Government's emissions reduction plan; if not why not?Hon DAVID PARKER (Minister of Transport): Yes. The Government Policy Statement (GPS) on land transport is one component of enabling emission reductions in the transport sector. Some of the emission reduction plan actions relate to such investment whilst others require different interventions such as regulatory change to for example improve the make-up of the fleet.Hon Julie Anne Genter: Has a climate impact assessment been undertaken on the draft GPS on land transport?Hon DAVID PARKER: As was the case with the draft GPS released in 2021 by amongst others the then Associate Minister of Transport no climate change impact assessment is done at the time of the draft; it's actually done at the time when individual projects are committed to.Hon Julie Anne Genter: Does he agree with the Climate Change Commission draft advice The transport system needs to change at all levels to provide New Zealanders with more low emissions options." and if so how does he reconcile this with the reduced proportion of funding going to public transport in his draft GPS?Hon DAVID PARKER: In general terms I agree with the quote that the member put in her supplementary question. The GPS provides increased funding for public transport services for public transport infrastructure for the rail network for walking and cycling improvements and for coastal shipping. It also includes new funding for inter-regional public transport.Hon Julie Anne Genter: Why has the proportion of spending for public transport in the transport fund reduced from 20 percent in 2021/22 to 18 percent in 2022/23 to now 17 percent as forecasted in this GPS while we are in a climate crisis and when people in New Zealand desperately need better public transport?Hon DAVID PARKER: The main reason for those changes in relative percentage would be the massive increase that's going into road maintenance which is necessary in part to deal with the likes of the storm damage that we had earlier this year.Hon Julie Anne Genter: Does he agree with the International Transport Forum at the OECD which states "The continued dominance of road infrastructure in national investment priorities is not in line with the need to decarbonise the transport sector and makes reaching the Paris Agreement goals even more challenging."; if so how does he justify an upper spending limit of over $4 billion on new roading projects that could be put to transforming our public transport system which benefits not only the people who use it but also our roads?Hon DAVID PARKER: In the first three-year period covered by the GPS I would note that the major investments in Auckland are in the likes of the north-western busway.Hon Julie Anne Genter: Has he seen the Essential Report poll that showed 72 percent of New Zealanders supported improving public transport rail and coastal shipping over building new roads and does he agree then therefore that doing the right thing for the climate would also be popular in New Zealand?Hon DAVID PARKER: I haven't seen that poll but I will look it out."