O'Rourke Denis: Debate on Prime Minister’s StatementText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeO'Rourke Denis: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement[Sitting date: 16 February 2016. Volume:711;Page:8990. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]DENIS O’ROURKE (NZ First): This Government has got a lot to answer for with backward policies and investment decisions on transport issues. Anyone who read the Waikato Times today will have seen quite an interesting article in it. It refers to “disturbing lack of an overall transport strategy” instead of “pulling together road rail and maritime services into a coordinated effort”. It also refers to roads: “jammed with the national fleet of giant trucks … up to 50 tons wearing out the expensive seal and choking main [roads] while the adjacent rail system seems to be in a potentially fatal decline.” Finally it points out “main roads and the rail lines run side by side for hundreds of kilometres”. The Waikato Times is absolutely correct—none of that makes any sense at all.The Government has no transport strategy it has no sensible transport plans and it has no coordinated transport policies. In the regions huge trucks inflict massive damage on regional roads with the costs falling on regional ratepayers to maintain them. Regional roads are of course subsidised by central government but there is a sinking cap on the available finances. That puts intolerable stress not just on the roading systems but on councils in the regions to maintain those roads. Again the National Government has no strategy to deal with those issues.Rail itself needs much more investment in New Zealand and New Zealand First is the party for the regions. It is the party for the regions because it would put that right. There is only $97 million in this year’s Budget for regional roads and there is only $210 million set aside for improvement in rail. These are drops in the transport bucket and will make no difference to anything. What it shows is an absolute lack of commitment by this Government to both rail and to regional transport generally.You can see some of the dumb decisions this Government has made such as the failure to reopen the Napier to Gisborne rail link at a cost of only $4 million. Now that we have the probable or at least possible phasing out of log shipments from the Gisborne port itself that rail link will become even more important.KiwiRail and management with Government compliance wants to phase out or de-electrify rail on the main trunk line from Hamilton to Palmerston North. New Zealand First on the other hand would electrify the entire Auckland to Wellington route because that is what needs to be done for a sustainable transport system in this country—Hon Jo Goodhew: At what cost?DENIS O’ROURKE: The Minister over there says: “At what cost?”. What about the $12 billion that Government is spending on motorways—what about that? What about the cost of that—let us hear an answer to that. There is also a need for a passenger link from Auckland City to the airport in that city. We are not hearing anything about that sort of urban passenger rail development from this Government. The Cook Strait ferries are another disaster area. We soon will not have a rail ferry at all and what that means is that wagons and locomotives will have to be double handled on to and off the Cook Strait ferries—freight double-handled on to and off the rubber-tyred trailers on and off those ferries. The South Island wagons and locomotives will be stranded in the South Island even though the only heavy transport facility is actually in the North Island. How will that work? We have not heard any solutions from this half-witted Government on that.New Zealand First has a policy called “RONI” railways of national importance instead of National’s “RONS” roads of national significance. We would ensure much better use of the railway network and services in New Zealand with improvements and extensions where there is an opportunity to significantly reduce dependence on the road network. That is what people want especially for heavy freight and for bulk freight services and also where there is a passenger service demand that would lead to a redevelopment of high-quality passenger rail services in the main centres. That can be achieved in the short term as I just said by reallocating some of the roads of national significance’s $12 billion being squandered by this Government at the present time. New Zealand First wants a New Zealand transport system to begin a new phase that is strategic rather than reactionary that is sustainable that meets the needs of our people and our communities and that is affordable and enhances and does not degrade our economy and our environment.National cannot even do anything sensible in the transport area about tourist drivers. As you may be aware I have a member’s bill that would require cars that are hired to overseas licence holders to comply with the Australasian five-star safety rating. Last week the Associate Minister of Transport said in answer to one of my questions “… what the member’s bill proposes would result in actually only the latest-model BMWs and European cars over $100000 …”. In fact you can buy 10 European Australian New Car Assessment Programme five star - rated Skoda Fabias for the price of one—for the price of Mr Foss’ own BMW ministerial limousine. The Skoda car is a $19900 car but has autonomous emergency braking that senses an impending collision so that the brakes are applied automatically. The humble Ford Mondeo is another good example.In fact it is a virtual cornucopia of traffic safety devices that include a lane-keeping aid which vibrates the steering wheel when a driver drifts out of a lane and that is what is happening too often with tourist drivers in this country. Imagine what that would mean for reducing the risk of head-on collisions which we are seeing far too many of in this country at the present time. The problem is an absence of leadership by the National Government and by an Associate Minister of Transport who is hopelessly out of his depth.The bill would also place a duty of care on rental car operators to make them vicariously liable for accidents caused by drivers only if it can be proven that they did not take reasonable and practical steps to ensure driver competence and their familiarity with New Zealand traffic laws and roads. Mr Foss’ response to that situation was: “I am not transferring that liability to some other organisation.” but the bill does not transfer responsibility away from the driver. It simply makes rental car operators additionally liable unless they have taken the steps I mentioned.I want to finish with this. There is currently a review of vehicle dimensions and mass going on—in fact the submissions close tomorrow—to allow huge wider longer higher and heavier trucks on New Zealand’s roads. That is a disgrace. The economic case for that has not been made. Safety will be a huge problem as a result. And that finally is just another example of how this Government has not got a sensible practical forward-looking and sustainable transport strategy which this country so dearly needs.