Joyce Steven: Financial Review Debate — In Committee 
Joyce Steven: Financial Review Debate — In Committee 
[Volume:653;Page:2460] 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE (Minister of Transport) 
: 
 It is a pleasure to speak on the transport portfolio this evening. I first congratulate the Opposition spokesperson on transport Darren Hughes on his fantastic haircut. It is very impressive. I recommend something a little more utilitarian; perhaps something like Mr Bennett’s might be more in keeping. 
We are of course referring to the 2007-08 year and I think the trouble with the previous Labour Government is that a lot of the stuff it talked about was puffery if I may say so—puffery. There were so many things—there were so many strategies within strategies and reviews within reviews—that we ended up with a lot of very impressive bits of paper and not a lot to show for it. By way of an exhibit because we are referring to the 2007-08 year I refer to  
Sea Change: Transforming Coastal Shipping in New Zealand 
 which I think is a fine document in that I obviously support coastal freight and freighting generally. This particular document is 36 pages in duration. Over the dinner break I took the liberty of working out that there are 14 full pages of photos in this 36-page document. There are four pages of maps and the equivalent of seven pages of white space. So of the whole 36-page strategy document that the previous Government oversaw 25 pages are what one might generously call illustrations. 
I think that was a little bit the story of the previous Government’s approach to transport. The honourable member opposite Darren Hughes mentioned an approach to road safety. He was I thought quite negative about the new Government’s approach to road safety. One of the big things we need to do is improve the quality of our highways. I refer to one that was in his former electorate of Otaki which is the road from Foxton to Paremata. There were 81 fatalities on that highway over the last 10 years and 256 serious injuries. We can tackle that in many ways but one of the ways we have to do it is to improve the quality of the State highway infrastructure. I make absolutely no apology for taking that approach. 
I draw attention also to the actual growth figures in the National Land Transport Programme going forward because those are the ones that have been criticised so much by the Opposition. There are some interesting numbers. The actual allocation for walking and cycling facilities is up 42 percent for the next 3 years over the allocation for the last 3 years—a 42 percent increase. I freely acknowledge that that is not quite as much as it would have been under the previous Labour Government but it still remains a 42 percent increase. It is not a cut. Renewal of State highways is up 12 percent maintenance and operation of State highways is up 16 percent renewal of local roads is up 19 percent and maintenance and operation of local roads is up 16 percent. 
Road policing is a very interesting one that is often talked about. The allocation for road policing in this country 2 years ago was $232 million. This year it is $273 million—it has gone up $40 million over 2 years and I salute the party opposite for actually bringing that forward. We have said that that is a lot of growth in 2 years. We are now taking it to $291 million then to $300 million and then on to $309 million yet the member opposite stands up and says during his 5 minutes that we are cutting road policing. We are not cutting road policing; we are growing it. 
More important we are also committing to public transport. The commitment to public transport is huge over the next 3 years. Public transport services are going up from $484 million—forget what Opposition members say this is what they actually did over the last 3 years—to $633 million over the next 3 years which is a 30 percent increase over 3 years. 
Hon Paula Bennett 
: How much? 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE 
: Thirty percent. It is a 30 percent increase over 3 years. The Labour members are trying to say that there is some sort of decline but there is not. 
On top of that the Government is committed to the Wellington railway. It is committed to the double tracking in Auckland which I freely acknowledge is an initiative started by the previous Government. It is also committed to electrification and to KiwiRail purchasing the trains. All up around $1.6 billion has been allocated in Auckland alone. 
So members should pity the poor motorist who finally gets a deal under this Government! Members should pity the motorist who will finally having paid his or her road taxes get an investment back on the roads from this new Government! Instead of a 9 percent decline in State highway infrastructure spending which was projected by the previous Government for the next 3 years we will see a very significant increase because of this transport reality. As much as we would like it to be something else it is not different.