9. Question No. 9—TransportSIMEON BROWN (National—Pakuranga) to the Minister of TransportQuestion No. 9—Transport9. SIMEON BROWN (National—Pakuranga) to the Minister of Transport: What is the total amount of unspent revenue collected from the Auckland regional fuel tax and how much revenue has been collected from the Auckland regional fuel tax to date?Hon MICHAEL WOOD (Minister of Transport): To the second part of the member's question I'm advised that as at 31 March this year approximately $728461000 has been collected through the regional fuel tax. That has been applied to projects currently under construction such as the Eastern Busway through the Pakuranga and Botany areas and the Matakana link road which Mr Penk will be very well familiar with. However as the member knows while Waka Kotahi collects this money on behalf of Auckland Council it is Auckland Council and Auckland Transport who are responsible for how it is spent. Therefore the member will need to direct that part of the question to them.Simeon Brown: Point of order. I put the same question to the Minister as a written question and received an answer on 4 April which actually included both answers to both parts of that question so I'm not sure why the Minister can't respond here in the House to a question on notice to the same.Hon MICHAEL WOOD: Speaking to the point of order—SPEAKER: Oh go on then.Hon MICHAEL WOOD: Ha ha! Mr Speaker thank you for indulging me. Obviously my office received this question this morning. We engage with the agencies that I have responsibility for who hold information. They do not hold this information. The information is held by a local government agency that I am unable in the course of responding to this question to receive the information from.Simeon Brown: Speaking to that. I mean it appears that whilst the Minister might be saying that he has provided the information to me before in a written question so he clearly does have access because his office would engage with the same agencies to get the answers to the written question as a question on notice.SPEAKER: Well the Minister clearly is saying that he doesn't know which is an answer. I will give the member an extra question so he can examine it further.Simeon Brown: Thank you. So with $327 million of the Auckland regional fuel tax revenue remaining unspent according to the New Zealand Herald does he agree that the Auckland regional fuel tax has just simply become another example of this Government's ability to raise taxes but not deliver?Hon MICHAEL WOOD: Responding to the member's question the information which he identified as I understand has come through the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act. I would reject the assertion in the member's question. The Auckland regional fuel tax is being spent on important projects like the Eastern Busway which the member says that he supports and the Matakana link road. It has delivered important projects like the city centre bus infrastructure improvements electric trains and stabling for the Auckland rail network the downtown ferry terminal and park and ride facilities across the city. When our Government came into office we inherited a $6 billion hole in the Auckland Transport Alignment Project. We've been getting on with the job of properly funding transport in Auckland to deal with this longstanding under-investment.Simeon Brown: Does he agree with former transport Minister the Hon Phil Twyford who said in 2019 Take this regional fuel tax away and Auckland would be back in the position of having empty promises of projects." and if so what does he say to Aucklanders who have seen $85.8 million spent on the empty promise of Mill Road which was meant to be built with revenue from this tax?Hon MICHAEL WOOD: I say to Aucklanders including the member himself that projects such as the Eastern Busway which have long been demanded by the people of East Auckland would not be getting delivered were it not for the regional fuel tax. For the member to stand there and pretend to support projects like that but then to oppose the very mechanisms which fund them leads me to a word that I'm not able to use in this House.Simeon Brown: Does Auckland Transport have funding to deliver the Eastern Busway all the way to Botany including the Botany station as promised would be delivered under the regional fuel tax?Hon MICHAEL WOOD: Auckland Transport is currently delivering the Eastern Busway and it is delivering the Eastern Busway from Pakuranga through to Botany—that is stage three of the Eastern Busway. Stage four which would include a station at Botany is planned for future investment.Simeon Brown: So the Minister's telling the House that despite the 2018 regional fuel tax which said that the Botany station would be completed using the regional fuel tax that now is no longer funded? Another empty promise.Hon MICHAEL WOOD: No that is not what I am saying. The Auckland regional fuel tax is a flow of revenue which lasts for some time for Auckland Council. At this time the Eastern Busway—which as I have noted before the member has stood and celebrated and said that he supports but is being delivered by a mechanism that he opposes—is being delivered through to Botany for stage three. That does not preclude future investments being made.Simeon Brown: Does he agree with Michael Wood who said in 2018 that the Auckland regional fuel tax provided a "vision for a congestion-free city" and if so what does he say to Auckland motorists who have been paying this tax for five years while congestion only continues to get worse and only about half of it has been spent?Hon MICHAEL WOOD: What I would say in response to that member's question is that congestion in Auckland would be considerably worse had we not made investments through the regional fuel tax in city centre bus improvements in stage two of the Eastern Busway in the downtown ferry terminal and other projects including electric train stabling that have helped more people to get on to public transport. Decades of neglect of investment in high-quality transport in Auckland have led us to the point of having congestion and high levels of carbon emissions. Our Government is getting on with the job of making the investments to futureproof the network in Auckland in contrast to the Opposition's relentless negativity and lack of any ideas as to how to actually solve any of these problems."