O'Rourke DenisDENIS O'ROURKE (NZ First): I am going to talk about the Estimates because that is what the debate is supposed to be about as distinct from the diatribe of drivel we just heard from Minister Woodhouse. I want to particularly talk about transport and begin with Christchurch where I live. All we are seeing in Christchurch is some old projects being completed to connect the Northern Motorway with Cranford Street to complete the Western Belfast Bypass and there will also be some further work required shortly on the Southern Motorway. But that is all we are seeing in Christchurch. Those are very old projects that have been there for decades and are only now actually being completed.What we are not seeing in Christchurch is any work on passenger rail. The lines are already there. The need is there between Rolleston and Christchurch in the south and it is already needed between Rangiora—where a certain member whom I see in the Chamber now lives—and Christchurch. There is no action being taken on that at all. There is a desperate need for infrastructure to support passenger rail in Christchurch—provision in the Estimates: zero. Zero. That is the record of the National Government there.In Auckland it is even worse. Aucklanders are being absolutely shafted. What we see is a $4 billion funding gap between the years 2018 and 2028. The Government has said that the available funds are something that well will have to be found by Aucklanders by Auckland Council because the Government itself has absolutely no plans in these Estimates or elsewhere to fill that gap. Yet at the same time the Government will not allow Auckland Council to impose a regional fuel tax. So it says to Auckland: Fill the gap. But no we're not going to give you any ability to do so." In addition to that there is no action to be taken on implementing a road-pricing regime for Auckland because that ultimately is going to be needed not only to raise funds but as an essential demand management tool.Looking at some other things about Auckland the Government has talked about its $436 million commitment to the Auckland City Rail Link—that is far too little far too late. There should have been a much greater provision by central government for that rail link in Auckland. It should have been probably 50 percent larger than that to relieve Auckland ratepayers of that burden because that rail link is needed to relieve congestion on Auckland's infrastructure as a whole.In addition to that the Government will spend at least $1.84 billion on the East-West Link in Auckland which has a very very poor benefit-cost ratio—so poor that the Minister of Transport will not even release it and will not see it updated because he is actually ashamed of it. That is a dog that project. It should not be proceeding at all and in fact the whole of the National Government's roads of national significance project approach to transport is itself a dog. It represents what is essentially a 1960s transport strategy. Much better alternatives are available especially in reinvestment in rail which New Zealand First has as its No. 1 priority. That would include a heavy-rail link to Auckland International Airport along Puhinui Road to the railway system at Onehunga. That would also allow a fully developed passenger rail system from the south from Hamilton as well as from Auckland City itself.There are many other ways in which the money could be better spent than this Government is going to do. A tunnel for the Manawatū Gorge would be a much better expenditure of taxpayers' money than the billions spent for example on the Waterview Connection—that tunnel. There are other opportunities for rail that are so many that I would not know where to begin. But to put it this way the expenditure of only $450 million on rail over the next 2 years when billions upon billions are being spent relatively uselessly on major roading projects shows that this Government has got its priorities utterly and completely wrong. These are not Estimates that this party New Zealand First can support."