Coddington Deborah: Land Transport Management Bill — Instruction to CommitteeCWH In Committee 
Coddington Deborah: Land Transport Management Bill — Instruction to CommitteeCWH In Committee 
[Volume:613;Page:9665] 
DEBORAH CODDINGTON (ACT) 
: 
 If we go back to the genesis of this bill we see that it followed on from the  
New Zealand Transport Strategy 
 which was released in December 2002. One of the objectives of that strategy was to assist economic development but if we look at the bill we can see that it has totally removed any reference to economic development—any reference at all. That reflects how this Minister has been shoved out of this bill. 
I know that this Minister’s heart is in the right place. Of all members in this Labour Government this Minister is probably one of the few who does understand economic development and what we have to do to grow this economy. Unfortunately this bill was drafted when Mr Gosche was the Minister of Transport. It was drafted as we know in conjunction with the Greens and it was a trade-off with the Greens. 
When we came to the Committee today we received Supplementary Order Paper 165 which will change clause 3(2)(e) by omitting the words “cost-effective” and substituting the words: “allocated in an efficient and effective manner”. Well what does that mean? I ask by whose standards? What is meant by “efficient and effective”? That is just semantics. It is just a little bit of a crumb that has been tossed to United Future so that that party can boast it is the Larry Baldock clause. It is a meaningless piece of verbiage that adds nothing at all in terms of economic efficiency. 
Just the other day on 30 October it was reported in the paper that higher road-user charges and increased fuel taxes contributed to the Government’s road funding agency Transfund New Zealand holding $225 million in its accounts. That is money that has been taken from New Zealanders who are trying to get from one place to another. If those New Zealanders live in Auckland they are penalised even further because they are spending on average $50 a week to fill a petrol tank. Of that sum $27.25 goes into Government taxes and fees but—members should listen to this—only $6.95 of that $27.25 is spent on roads at the moment and when this bill is passed even less of that $6.95 will be spent on roads. 
This bill has no cap on how much of that money can be taken out and used for other purposes. Part 1 is extremely loose in its definition of what an “approved activity” is so we have no idea of how much of that money will be spent on roads. The Government did not put a cap on what will be sucked out of road-user charges and spent on other approved activities. 
The bill also tries to deal with the protection of the environment and sustainable development. One of the worst things for the environment in Auckland is that cars are idling on the massive car-parks we call motorways. Cars stuck in traffic contribute to bad emissions. The worst thing is for cars just to sit there. What will this bill do to expedite that problem? Nothing. 
I have a suggestion for the Government. In 1989 the America’s Cup (Planning) Act was passed. It aimed to expedite planning consent in order to get the America’s Cup village and other facilities built quickly and efficiently so that Auckland and the rest of New Zealand could benefit from the economic growth that that would bring. A planning authority was set up— 
Mark Peck 
: What did Bluff ever get out of the America’s Cup? 
DEBORAH CODDINGTON 
: I say to the member that his Government passed the legislation. If he did not like it then why did his Government pass the legislation in 1989? The Act set up a planning authority to fast track consents so that the America’s Cup village could be built. Who would deny that that has brought enormous benefit to this country? 
I have a member’s bill—the Auckland Roads Network (Planning) Bill. Even though I hate the word “planning” I could not get around it because there was not another word that fitted. “Planning” is a word that has been hijacked by socialists. However I had to use it. We will be able to set up a planning authority to fast track consent for Auckland’s roading network.