2. Greenhouse Gas Emissions—Transport PolicyJULIE ANNE GENTER (Green) to the Minister of TransportGreenhouse Gas Emissions—Transport Policy2. JULIE ANNE GENTER (Green) to the Minister of Transport: Mā te whakapau e iwa tekau mā rua ōrau o te katoa o te pūtea tahua waka i te mea kua kitea ko te waka rori tētahi kaipana matua whakapiki tukunga waro mai anō i te tau kotahi mano iwa rau iwa tekau ka taea e tērā te whakaheke i te whakakinotanga o te āhua rangi?[Will spending 92 percent of the total transport budget on roads reduce climate pollution given road transport has been a key driver of the increase in carbon emissions since 1990?]Hon PAULA BENNETT (Minister for Climate Change Issues) on behalf of the Minister of Transport: Until new roads and improvements to existing roads are completed it is difficult to assess how much climate pollution may be reduced by better vehicle performance on better roads.Julie Anne Genter: Can she confirm that reducing climate-damaging pollution is not even an objective of the 30-year Auckland transport strategy the Auckland Transport Alignment Project led by her Government?Hon PAULA BENNETT: Actually until it has decided which projects it is going to go ahead with it has not done the climate change and the greenhouse gas emissions analysis but there is an environmental analysis that will be done once those projects are chosen.Julie Anne Genter: Would it not make more sense to do the greenhouse gas emissions analysis before choosing the project so that we could actually have an integrated transport system that decreases pollution?Hon PAULA BENNETT: Well actually we do need roads in this country and even something for electric vehicles to be able to drive on. So although we do have a focus certainly on reducing fossil fuels—and it is a key focus—what we are looking at is the environmental impacts once we have decided which projects we will go ahead with.Julie Anne Genter: Why does she think that these isolated environmental assessments of transport projects will work when that is what has been happening for the last few decades and emissions from transport have continued to grow for the last few decades—in fact it is a key driver of all of our climate pollution over the last three decades?Hon PAULA BENNETT: This is a Government that has invested more in public transport and rail than any others in a very long time. So what the member's question proposes is that we are choosing between the two. I think that we can have both. That is why we look at the environmental impacts. We do support public transport and we certainly support cycleways—all of which are part of reducing emissions—but we need roads in this country too and we proudly stand by that.Julie Anne Genter: Is she denying that 92 percent of Vote Transport is on roads and does that seem like a balanced approach that will enable more New Zealanders to take public transport?Hon PAULA BENNETT: No I am not but that is because it is 92 percent of a much bigger budget so a lot more money is being spent on both public transport and on roads and on rail.Julie Anne Genter: How will it make it easier for ordinary New Zealanders to get to work get to school and get where they need to go on public transport when your Government is spending four times as much on expanding a few highways?Hon PAULA BENNETT: Well we need roads for some of that public transport to actually travel on and I accept that the member does not support new roads or improving existing roads in New Zealand but this side of the House does. We believe that we are investing—and we know we are investing—far more in public transport but we equally stand by our actual commitment to roading projects in this country.Julie Anne Genter: Is she happy that her legacy for young Aucklanders will be a city without decent public transport where they cannot afford to buy a house in a world where they will be the first to feel the effects of damaging climate change—something her Government is actually doing nothing about?Hon Gerry Brownlee: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. You may like to consider how that question was addressed. The question on the sheet is to the Minister of Transport. As far as I know the Minister of Transport should not be addressed as she" nor should any of those other matters be addressed to the Minister of Transport.Mr SPEAKER: Yes I think the question had quite a lot in there that I could have ruled out of order particularly a reference to housing costs etc. which has got nothing to do with transport. But in the spirit—[Interruption] Order! In the spirit of it being the last day before a substantial adjournment I was very generously allowing the question to stand and now I hope the Minister will address it.Hon PAULA BENNETT: I will stand proudly for those young Aucklanders and their future because what we are giving them is a range of options for them to get around this country including the support for the City Rail Link including the support that we have given in actually electrifying trains out to west Auckland where his great colleague the Minister for Climate Change Issues lives. Actually the investment that we are giving in roads is so that those buses can actually travel and get around this country. Does the member not ever ride her bike on a road?Julie Anne Genter: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. [Interruption]Mr SPEAKER: Order! I am going to acknowledge a point of order.Julie Anne Genter: I seek leave to table a forecast that shows pollution from transport increasing over the next 15 years under this Government's policies.Mr SPEAKER: I just need to know the source of the document.Julie Anne Genter: The source of the document is the Parliamentary Library and it has assembled this from documents that have been produced by the Government ministries.Mr SPEAKER: I am not going to put the leave and I refer the member to Speaker's ruling 165/1: "The document tabled must be an authentic source. It is not acceptable [to use it] to table members' own views … or documents [that are attempting] to substantiate those views …" and in my opinion the charts are doing that.Julie Anne Genter: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker.Mr SPEAKER: Is this another matter that is being raised not any attempt—Julie Anne Genter: I would like to raise a question with you about your ruling.Mr SPEAKER: No I have made a ruling. It is not debatable in the House.Julie Anne Genter: Sorry to clarify your ruling—could I ask a question to clarify your ruling?Mr SPEAKER: On this occasion because of the generosity that I expressed earlier I will hear from the member.Julie Anne Genter: Do I understand based on your ruling that you do not consider the Parliamentary Library to be an objective source of information?Mr SPEAKER: I know that I have got an agnostic view on that but I know that some members certainly have a very strong view about that as to the authenticity of the Parliamentary Library. But no the reason I said that I would not put the leave is that I think the member is basically using it to reinforce the point that she has made from a political perspective and the questions she has raised. The purpose of tabling documents is to further inform members and if members are as interested in the topic as the member clearly is then they can certainly go to the library and get very similar information prepared."