3. Question No. 3—Prime MinisterHon JUDITH COLLINS (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime MinisterQuestion No. 3—Prime Minister3. Hon JUDITH COLLINS (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by all of her Government's statements and actions?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN (Prime Minister): Yes in particular I stand by this Government's focus on a COVID-19 immunisation programme centred on the Pfizer vaccine and welcome yesterday's announcement of 1 million doses arriving in July. This means double the number of vaccines will be received by the end of next month and we will have enough stock to fully vaccinate a million New Zealanders. With this announcement we can continue ramping up our roll-out to the general population next month and will ensure everyone in New Zealand who wants a vaccine will be offered one before the end of the year. With around 20000 doses a day currently being administered and greater certainty of supply the Government is on track to reach the peak of our programme in August and September where we will deliver roughly 50000 doses per day. [Interruption] SPEAKER: Order!Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Offering a vaccine to every New Zealander who wants one is the best way as a country we can secure our recovery.Hon Judith Collins: Why has she prioritised a cycling bridge that might benefit 3000 people over developing the Mill Road highway that would support an extra 120000 people living in southern Auckland?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I would refer the member to the fact that we have varied the investment around Mill Road because without that it would have been the most expensive road in the country at $3.5 billion. It was prudent and necessary to take another look at that investment. The changes that we've made will still allow the acceleration of housing development in a really critical area of Auckland.Hon Judith Collins: Why has she prioritised a $785 million cycle bridge to the North Shore when commuting from Pukekohe to the CBD currently takes more than an hour by car and over 80 minutes one way using rail?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: You'll see a consistency in the fact that we've made decisions that are investing in high-growth areas whilst also working to reduce emissions. For instance the investments in the south are about better connectivity. We've got another train station going into an area of high growth because our view is we need to provide options to those looking to move around the city. At the moment we've had unfortunately over a number of decades a very significant investment in roading and not enough investment consistently in public transport options.Hon Michael Wood: Does she stand by the Government's investments through the New Zealand Upgrade Programme in the Papakura electorate in terms of the State Highway 1 investment between Papakura and Drury and the Papakura to Pukekohe electrification project—two projects that will significantly increase the ability of people to move around—SPEAKER: Order! Order! I am going to rule the question out because I have been making it clear to members that they don't add extra things on when they've finished their question in the way that the Minister did then.Hon Judith Collins: What is her response to the chair of the Infrastructure Commission Dr Alan Bollard who says of the cycle bridge It will move less than 1 percent of the existing bridge traffic while subsidising one of the wealthiest suburbs in the country. The arithmetic does not stack up."?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Look I don't necessarily expect every individual to support the idea of providing multimodal transport but I do believe that if we are going to create an international city where we are able to move people around that city through various modes of transport and we have as a party and as a Government made a commitment to enabling that between the North Shore and the CBD but we're stuck with a structural issue that prevents that—we're working to find our way around that and that is what we propose. I do note that it seems a significant departure for the member and her party who previously had supported a route that connected the North Shore and the CBD. I notice that they no longer support that. I'd be very interested to know whether or not that's the view of all their members in Auckland.Hon Judith Collins: Is $785 million to move less than 1 percent of traffic from the bridge the type of return she expects when investing taxpayer money?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: I've previously seen that member's party make decisions on roading projects that did not stack up. We have made a judgment for instance on Mill Road that we could not justify the investment in what would become the most expensive project in the country. However we currently have a connection where people cannot walk cannot cycle and they are cut off from joining other public transport networks between the North Shore and the CBD. We have estimates of how many would use that daily. That's on a previous business case but our view is it's a connection that's required.Hon Judith Collins: By how many minutes will the $785 million cycle bridge reduce the average commute time from the North Shore to Auckland's CBD if any?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Two points. Some of the alternatives that have been proposed around using two lanes of the harbour bridge to provide the same thing would likely considerably contribute to congestion on the existing route. So that's why we have not favoured that option. When it comes to commute times for this current proposal if the member chooses to put a question on notice I'm sure I could provide further information.Hon Judith Collins: What is her response to the people of Ashburton who have been emailing me asking how she was able to find $785 million for a cycle bridge in Auckland but not $30 million to build them a much needed second car-bridge across the Ashburton River?Rt Hon JACINDA ARDERN: Well the first point I'd make is actually this is a commitment that has been made some time ago. And as I pointed out yesterday the issue has been that the engineering work has demonstrated to us that the original plan is not feasible. The second point on Ashburton: the Minister of Transport visited with the mayor only last week. Obviously the issues that we've seen from slash and the significant flooding event have had an impact on the bridge. The New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) are working very hard to get heavy vehicles back over the bridge in night hours because at the moment in the evenings they're taking a detour and I understand that the NZTA are talking to local government about a business case for potentially alternative routes. My understanding is that to date that hasn't existed but we are working closely with them because obviously we see the fragility of the connection down south that's been caused by this flood."