8. Transport Auckland—Rail to Airport Funding and Government PrioritiesPHIL TWYFORD (Labour—Te Atatū) to the Minister of TransportTransport Auckland—Rail to Airport Funding and Government Priorities8. PHIL TWYFORD (Labour—Te Atatū) to the Minister of Transport: Why is the Government prepared to wait up to 30 years before funding light rail to Auckland Airport?Hon SIMON BRIDGES (Minister of Transport): The Government has never said that. The Government's position has been and is clear and that is building and moving from bus to light rail as demand requires. The Government's focus is on protecting the dedicated corridor and moving towards construction of the corridor which will be completed within 10 years.Phil Twyford: Does he think that waiting 30 years for light rail in our biggest city is to coin a phrase ambitious for New Zealand?Hon SIMON BRIDGES: I think our plan and the work we are doing with the council is truly ambitious for Auckland. It involves projects in the north the south the east and the west—where the growth is happening—as opposed to relying on one silver bullet and putting everything into that when actually Waterview has halved the time on that trip. While we know that a tram plan may over time have merit it would take some 50 minutes—well over double what Waterview is taking and will continue to take for some time to come.Phil Twyford: Why when congestion is costing the city $1.3 billion a year in lost productivity is he holding back the city's growth in prosperity by refusing to back light rail to the airport now just like Steven Joyce did with the City Rail Link?Hon SIMON BRIDGES: The truth is that the congestion is why we have got a plan of unprecedented ambition all over Auckland. It is why the East-West Link is so important because unlike the Labour Party we do not live in some imaginary world where there is not freight. We do not think that mattresses plasma TVs and all these other things turn up to shops and people's homes by themselves.Phil Twyford: Does he agree with Infrastructure New Zealand which said that Labour's commitment to solving Auckland's long-term transport funding challenge is a big step forward" and the chamber of commerce which said that Labour's speed of action to accelerate delivery of transport solutions is exactly what Auckland needs?Hon SIMON BRIDGES: I think what it actually said was that the plan was interesting. But what it also made quite clear was that it absolutely disagrees with a plan that would increase congestion dramatically and that involves cancelling the East-West Link. I am also not sure what they think about the dramatic rise in regional fuel taxes that would be required when we know that the tram plan requires over $100 million a kilometre.Phil Twyford: How would he fund the $6 billion gap in the Auckland transport plan's first decade if he is in Government after the next election? Mr Speaker I know that is a hypothetical question but I hope you will allow it.Hon SIMON BRIDGES: Well the same as we have already funded a plan of unprecedented ambition in Auckland and New Zealand. We have done it before; we will do it again. We have got a lot of capital that we have made clear through Budget 2017 and the National Land Transport Fund also has some headroom. What we will not be doing is adding new taxes. It will be much more than 10c actually and really hitting Aucklanders in the hip pocket.Rt Hon Winston Peters: Could I ask the Minister whether the real reason that he is being so slow to address the needs of the Auckland community where rail is concerned is that he has done nothing about Gisborne and Northland Manawatū to Wairarapa and the North Canterbury to Christchurch line?Hon SIMON BRIDGES: Well the member knows that is a load of old cobblers. He asks me written questions nearly every day and I make clear the projects happening all over New Zealand—the East Coast and the north; actually the hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars. I think that is a big part of the reason why our regions contrary to all the stuff he says are booming right now."