5. Question No. 5—TransportGRANT McCALLUM (National—Northland) to the Minister of TransportQuestion No. 5—Transport5. GRANT McCALLUM (National—Northland) to the Minister of Transport: What recent announcements has he made on the four-lane roads of national significance between Auckland and Northland?Hon SIMEON BROWN (Minister of Transport): Thank you Mr Speaker. Yesterday I was pleased to announce that the coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei. For too long the lack of resilient transport connections between Northland and the rest of the country have been a handbrake on the regions' economic development. Planning for a replacement to the Brynderwyns was abruptly stopped by the last Government and it's left Northland far too often in a vulnerable disruption. That's why we're moving at pace to get this project back on track and I acknowledge the New Zealand First-National coalition commitment to this project.Grant McCallum: How is the Government accelerating work on these roads of national significance?Hon SIMEON BROWN: As part of our Roads of National Significance programme we have agreed to an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently. Our accelerated delivery strategy includes a progressive public-private partnership model that will achieve efficiencies and innovation in planning procurement design and construction across the entire roading corridor between Auckland and Whangārei. It will do this by treating the three roads of national significance as three stages of the same project and incentivising the partner to deliver excellence in design construction finance maintenance and operation for each phase of the expressway. This Government is focused on getting infrastructure built. Grant McCallum: What benefits will this accelerated delivery model have on these roads of national significance?Hon SIMEON BROWN: There is great news for the hard-working people of Northland. Our accelerated delivery model means NZTA will avoid multiple procurement processes and will deliver integrated design construction and maintenance operations across the entire Northland Expressway and allow greater efficiencies through scale to deliver the project up to 10 years faster than traditional processes. The coalition Government is delivering for Northland.Grant McCallum: What benefits will the Northland Expressway bring to Northland?Hon SIMEON BROWN: Well once the Northland Expressway is completed it will provide a modern reliable and efficient link between Northland and Auckland unlocking economic growth and boosting productivity. Last year a report by NZIER found that the Warkworth to Wellsford section of the expressway alone would increase New Zealand's annual GDP by $497 million including benefits for Northland. The AA has said following this announcement that this would be a game changer" for Northland. Whangārei's Mayor Vince Cocurullo has said it was awesome news and a project that "Northland welcomes with open arms".Hon David Seymour: Does the Minister view this project as a cost to New Zealand or an investment in a region that has been underserved and called the "roadless north" for far too long and yet has better weather better beaches and more potential to be a place and a home for more and more people for generations to come than perhaps any other region?Hon SIMEON BROWN: Oh well the fond remarks that man says of Northland are true for the hearts of many New Zealanders. But ultimately we know that if we want to unlock economic growth and productivity for New Zealand we need to build the modern reliable infrastructure that New Zealand needs and that includes building the roading infrastructure that New Zealand needs. The last Government cancelled the Roads of National Significance programmes—one of the worst decisions they made. [Interruption]SPEAKER: That's enough. Now we're just going to try and have a degree of calm. The House is getting a little bit too fractious."