Peachey Allan: Climate Change (Transport Funding) Bill — First Reading 
Peachey Allan: Climate Change (Transport Funding) Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:655;Page:4847] 
ALLAN PEACHEY (National—Tamaki) 
: 
 I speak in opposition to the Climate Change (Transport Funding) Bill. The purpose of this bill is to alter the funding priorities of the National Land Transport Fund over a period of time so that within 5 years funds will be allocated mainly to the support of modes of transport other than private vehicles. This bill has come from the Green Party. It is typical of what comes from that party. It goes in the exactly opposite direction from where this country needs to go if it is to develop and grow. The Greens seek to take this country in the opposite direction from where it needs to go. [ 
Interruption 
] I tell those members opposite who are having their say that it would be wise to reflect on a couple of facts. Fewer than 6 percent of New Zealanders use public transport on a regular basis. Nearly 70 percent of all freight moved in New Zealand goes by road. Eighty-four percent of people who travel to work go by car truck or motorbike. Those parties that support this bill are defying fact and logic by doing so. 
New Zealand needs good roads for use by private vehicles if it is to compete and grow. Changes on the scale proposed by the Green Party would do a number of things. Firstly they would result in a huge decrease in expenditure on the construction and maintenance of State highways and local roads. Secondly they would occur at a time when New Zealand must invest in infrastructure. We have just had 9 long years of neglect and this Government finds itself not only in catch-up mode but also required to move New Zealand forward. If we are to lift our country’s productivity and stimulate the economy we must engage in this sort of development. National as the party in Government cannot unlike the Greens and the other parties that are supporting them stick its head in the ground stick to an ideology that is irrelevant to the future development of New Zealand and pretend that our current situation does not matter. Feel-good politics such as are shown in this bill are a luxury that parties not in Government have. They are certainly not a luxury that the parties in Government can tolerate. 
I invite this House to think about what this legislation would actually mean. It would mean firstly a reduction in spending on roads to such an extent that no new roading projects would go ahead. I invite the Green Party and the other parties that are supporting it to think about the major announcements that have been made about projects to be developed in the immediate future. Secondly this bill will severely restrict the ability of the New Zealand Transport Agency to progress safety enhancements on our roads. Thirdly local authorities will be faced with a choice: either increase rates or cut out other projects in order to continue with local road maintenance and development. Fourthly at a time of economic crisis—and we live in such a time—the passage of this bill would result in goods not being able to reach their markets and people not being able to get work. This bill makes no sense at all.