Brown Peter: Transport Legislation Bill — Instruction to Committee In Committee 
Brown Peter: Transport Legislation Bill — Instruction to Committee In Committee 
[Volume:621;Page:16919] 
PETER BROWN (Deputy Leader—NZ First) 
: 
 I was actually not going to take a call but then I heard the honourable member Mike Ward make a contribution. For the first time I have to say I am a bit worried about whether we should be supporting this legislation—after listening to his contribution. Clearly he wants to tear up the roads and remove motorists from them but the actual truth in this country is that we need more roads which need to be wider and safer. 
New Zealand First is hopeful that with the dissolution of the Land Transport Safety Authority and Transfund and their amalgamation into Land Transport New Zealand a much more proactive attitude will prevail through that organisation. We are hopeful that organisation will have a much more professional attitude a much more caring attitude and a much more businesslike attitude than the current organisations. I am referring more specifically to Transfund than to the Land Transport Safety Authority. 
Roading in this country has not kept pace with vehicle numbers and traffic demand. It is a long way short of those. It is actually shameful that Government after Government and Minister after Minister have just taken dollars from the petrol motorist—thousands even millions of dollars—used them in all sorts of frivolous areas and not spent an adequate amount of funding on roading. If we are silly enough—and I say that with sincerity—to think the motorcar will not play a prominent role in our society then I suggest that we should think again. If there are any members here who believe that we can get rid of the motorcar then I tell them that they are living on the wrong planet. That is not going to happen. [ 
Interruption 
] I am getting a little worried; United Future members are agreeing with everything I am saying this afternoon and that is a problem in itself. 
The motorcar is here to stay. It might become more fuel-efficient. We looked at hybrid cars out on the forecourt only the other day and they are very impressive vehicles. I am told by those who know a little more about them than I do that they can do 65 kilometres to the gallon or thereabouts and they go on to battery power automatically—there is no switch over. It is modern technology. But the motorcar is here to stay. Hopefully more and more people will use public transport where and when they can but it will never take over from the car. It will never take over completely from the car. If we want to get rid of congestion sure we should cater for the travelling public who want to use public transport—and maybe encourage people to use it—but we must improve our roading. That is very very important. 
I am hopeful and New Zealand First is hopeful that by getting rid of the Land Transport Safety Authority and Transfund by bringing them together in recognition of their common goals we will get a far more professional organisation that will look at roading much more objectively that will look at funding and that will have the courage of its convictions to say that we cannot fund roads on a drip-feed basis. I hope it will have the courage of its convictions to go to the Minister of Transport and say: “Look! The average New Zealander doesn’t want tolls. Please think again.” I am very very hopeful that Land Transport New Zealand will take such a positive attitude and that when the Minister asks what the best way is to fund our roads—I know he will ask that; he is a very objective Minister—the new organisation will tell him to read the Allen report in detail and see the advantage of borrowing to invest in our roads. The return is thousands of dollars per year in excess of what is invested. Indeed I believe that the return estimated by the Allen report in terms of Tauranga with its strategic roading network is something like $7.60 for every dollar invested. That is a huge return and dare I say—because I know that the Minister is listening—there would not be a greater or better investment of Government dollars than an investment in roading at this particular time in our history. We need to do something positive about our roading and I am hopeful that Land Transport New Zealand will do just that.