Shanks Katrina: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeShanks Katrina: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 05 November 2013. Volume:694;Page:14308. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]3.KATRINA SHANKS (National) to theMinister of Transport: How will the construction of Transmission Gully benefit the Wellington region?Hon GERRY BROWNLEE (Minister of Transport): This is a vitally important piece of infrastructure and the benefits of constructing the whole of the roads of national significance are large. Transmission Gully will help shave 40 minutes off the commute from Levin to Wellington. It will improve road safety reducing the number of serious and fatal crashes; it will mean an alternative route exists in the event of a natural disaster; and it will contribute to jobs in the region. The National Government with the support of the Māori Party United Future and ACT is investing in the infrastructure of New Zealand supporting cities like Wellington when Labour and the Greens are abandoning them.Katrina Shanks: What progress has been made towards the construction of Transmission Gully as part of the northern corridor road of national significance?Hon GERRY BROWNLEE: Last week the Prime Minister confirmed that this Government is committed to building the Transmission Gully road and that construction would begin in the middle of next year. This is a roading project that the National Government has progressed as part of the roads of national significance package and we believe that the benefits of not only Transmission Gully but the northern corridor as a whole to the Wellington region will be substantial.Katrina Shanks: Why is the Government proposing to build Transmission Gully using an availability model public-private partnership?Hon GERRY BROWNLEE: Because it is a very efficient way of doing it. There has been a lot of misinformation surrounding the procurement of Transmission Gully via a public-private partnership mostly from the Greens but not from Labour because it has not decided yet whether or not to support it. The availability model means just that: the payment to the operator does not commence until the road is built and is made available. The operator is paid on availability and performance of the road. If the road is not available it is not paid. At the end of the contract—25 years on—the asset becomes an asset of the State.Hon Peter Dunne: Will the Minister be good enough to acknowledge that the construction of Transmission Gully as a public-private partnership was the first point in the National - United Future confidence and supply agreement and also that the decision to proceed with this from next year will end some 75 years of uncertainty for Wellington people over northern access and egress?Hon GERRY BROWNLEE: Yes I do want to confirm those points raised by the Hon Peter Dunne. It would be fair to say that since he first came to Parliament in 1984 Mr Dunne has been a strong advocate for the road of national significance and it was indeed a very important point in the coalition arrangement that was reached at the time of the last election. What that also shows is that a National-led Government is capable of giving very big wins to parties that choose to be in Government with it.