Twyford PhilThird ReadingHon PHIL TWYFORD (Minister of Transport): I move That the Land Transport (Rail) Legislation Bill be now read a third time. Our Government is committed to securing the role of rail in the New Zealand transport system. The network is a major contributor to the national and regional economic growth of this country. It's a vital link in our supply chain and it will play an important role in our economic recovery from the pandemic. Rail provides so many benefits to New Zealand: reducing emissions and congestion reducing road deaths and injuries and providing vital connections between communities. This Government's vision is for a multimodal transport system that gives Kiwis real transport choices and within that system we are striving for a national rail network that will provide modern rapid transit in our largest cities particularly Auckland and Wellington. But as we speak as Tauranga as Hamilton and as Canterbury plan their future transport systems they are all looking in one way or another at the role that rail can play as the backbone of public transport systems. Rail is also the backbone of a sustainable 21st century freight network and we need to consider all of the modes together as parts of an integrated land transport system. We want the most efficient mode to be used for any given task moving freight or people and rail can no longer be left out in the cold. This bill brings it in for decision makers to consider alongside every other mode. It will support the restoration of rail helping to achieve our Government's goal of a rail network that delivers value for all New Zealanders. The EY Value of Rail report—that was commissioned by KiwiRail but suppressed by the former National Government and released by KiwiRail when I became the Minister of Transport—found that rail contributes $1.5 billion of value to New Zealand every year. By taking trucks off the road and reducing wear and tear on our highways by preventing deaths and serious injuries and by reducing carbon emissions it contributes real value. Without it our transport system simply wouldn't work. The Future of Rail review that our Government did found that the network has been in a state of managed decline. Fixing the issues with rail so that it can deliver on our vision requires an ongoing commitment to investing in the network and that's why our coalition Government has invested $4.6 billion into the rail network in the last three years. However the challenge is not just about increasing the level of investment. We also must update our current approach to planning and funding rail and address the structural factors that have contributed to its managed decline. The annual planning and funding arrangements for rail through the Budget process have imposed a short-term view of investment that is entirely inappropriate for a long-lived asset like rail. The result has been uncertainty short-term procurement decisions and chronic under-investment in the rail network. The new planning and funding framework that this bill ushers in follows a partial integration approach. It brings rail and other land transport investments closer together and allows investments to be made in a way that gets them to work together. This is an important step not only for rail but for our vision of an efficient and sustainable multimodal transport system. Ministers will retain their decision-making rights over rail investments KiwiRail continues as a State-owned enterprise and Waka Kotahi—the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA)—will be responsible for providing Ministers with advice on the rail network investment programme which will be produced on a three-yearly cycle. While the Government guides the rail network through the investments needed to keep it resilient and reliable it's crucial that Ministers are accountable for and have oversight of the funding for the rail network as well as its commercial assets. It's important to ensure that the statutory rail network investment programme established by this bill is robust and it reflects regional and national priorities. This bill ensures that Waka Kotahi gives independent advice to KiwiRail and Ministers that takes into account any relevant regional land transport plan. Rail is critically important to so many of our regions and it's very important that the regions have a voice in the rail network investment plan. This will also ensure that Ministers are informed of any interdependencies between the regional priorities the regional land transport programmes and projects. This will allow KiwiRail to work closely with Waka Kotahi and regional councils to make sure the voices of the regions are heard. This approach will also ensure that rail infrastructure is funded through the National Land Transport Fund. That is the budget and the programme of all land transport modes that is produced on a three-yearly cycle with a 10-year horizon. This bill contributes to our goal of ensuring that rail is no longer siloed and no longer ignored but its critical decisions about investment and services are made in a joined-up and integrated way so that in any given corridor or any urban area where we're wanting to move people or in any freight task around New Zealand we can make investments based on what is the most sustainable efficient resilient transport mode and not by simply defaulting to what we have always done. As we've previously said Crown funding for rail will need to increase from past levels to ensure that KiwiRail can continue to operate as a commercial business and that its freight and logistics operation is run on commercial lines as a business but we also want to secure the public benefits from the wider rail network. The development under this legislation of a track user charge recognises the need for transparency and fairness in rail funding. The track user charge will ensure that the users of the rail network contribute to its maintenance and upkeep. Under the National Land Transport Fund we can continue in a small way to invest in rail when it is the most appropriate investment for the transport system but I want to make it clear—because I know this is something that is still sensitive and it's been the subject of some confused debate—that the bulk of funding for rail on an ongoing basis will continue to be provided by the Crown. With this combination of funding from track users the Crown and the National Land Transport Fund we will be able to fund the catch-up investments the rail network needs to achieve its goals. Rail is a strategic long-lived national asset which delivers safety anti-congestion and environmental benefits for all New Zealanders. It is the sustainable backbone of our 21st century transport system. It's clear that we need to take a long-term and properly planned integrated approach to rail in this country and this bill is about changing that approach to transport planning and applying a long-term strategic approach. The bill will secure rail's ability to continue to deliver those benefits to New Zealand that I've mentioned and we will ensure that we have a rail network that keeps people places and products connected. It won't surprise members of this House that the commanding heights of our economy the great export producers our dairy forestry coal timber—all of those are the major export primary producers and they want to see investment in rail. They want an efficient and modern capable rail network. Talk to the two freight-forwarding companies who shift the most freight in this country—Toll Holdings and Mainfreight—and they want to see investment in a modern rail network. They don't support the narrow roads-only vision that we so often hear from the Opposition benches. This bill will be vital for progressing regional economic development creating jobs and developing our regions at a time when they need it most. The bill will give the long-term certainty that the rail network needs and it will be instrumental in delivering a resilient reliable and safe rail network that will benefit all New Zealanders. I want to finish by thanking the public servants in the Ministry of Transport the people who work for KiwiRail and NZTA and Treasury actually who have all contributed to the future of rail review and this legislation. I commend this bill to the House.