Annual Review Debate — Transport

Thank you, Mr Chair. It’s my honour to stand this afternoon to speak as the chair of the Transport and Infrastructure Committee, a team that has heard from a number of agencies, particularly over the annual review period, with a focus on decarbonisation, mass rapid transport, inter-regional rail, and mode shift. It’s been particularly interesting over this period to hear the energy, the enthusiasm, and particularly the work that is being done to support these areas.

The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has conducted the 2021-22 annual review of the following entities: Airways Corporation of New Zealand Ltd; City Rail Link Ltd; KiwiRail Holdings; New Zealand Railways Corporation; Maritime New Zealand; MetService; the Ministry of Transport, Te Manatū Waka; and the New Zealand Transport Agency, Waki Kotahi. We also conducted briefings on the 2021-22 financial performance of the following entities: Air New Zealand, the Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand, and the Transport Accident Investigation Commission.

We met with the Minister of Transport, the Hon Michael Wood, to discuss the 2021-22 annual reviews of the transport sector also, and the Minister characterised this period as one of which New Zealand, including the transport sector, was recovering from and emerging from the COVID-19 emergency phase. The Minister noted the work on the COVID-19 response by the transport sector, and the progress of key transport and infrastructure projects, emissions reduction policies, and maintenance of the network. The topics covered in the hearing with the Minister included the severe weather events, allocation of transport funding, funding of road maintenance and what it involves, improving transport choices, funding for recovery from severe weather events, the New Zealand Upgrade Programme, the clean car programme, Auckland’s transport network, maritime transport, and the significance of progress on such large transport infrastructure projects like Auckland light rail and the additional Waitematā Harbour crossing.

Several of the committee’s hearings took place following severe weather events, which added to the discussion events that happened in Auckland, and following Cyclone Gabrielle in Te Tairāwhiti. This was the focus of the committee’s questions to officials also, particularly with reference to KiwiRail and Waka Kotahi, and to the Minister of Transport.

Thank you, Mr Chair. Thank you for the opportunity to take a call in this annual review debate, and what a year it has been for our transport sector in New Zealand. I don’t know if there’s ever been such a time when things in our transport sector have been in such a poor state. The 54,000 potholes on our roads last year, a record—a record—under this Minister: 54,000 potholes on our roads last year. No new major roads started and completed under this Government.

Our ferries: the Interislander ferry—absolutely appalling the service that’s being provided there at the moment with cancellations left, right, left, left, left, and left under this Government.

The trains: the trains in Auckland—you can’t get on the trains in Auckland, the lines are shut down. Trains in Wellington—well, I say Michael Wood’s so good at speed limit reductions he’s even managed to do it on the rail network here in Wellington. It’s appalling.

Chris Penk: It’s gone to zero!

SIMEON BROWN: The Road to Zero is even applied to the rail network now. It’s only for the speed limit. And then the bus driver shortage. So if you can’t get in your car because there’s potholes everywhere and you can’t get on the train, well, I’m sorry, there’s no bus drivers either, because this Minister of Transport is also the Minister of Immigration and hasn’t sorted it out. Ferries: well, the Interislander, but also the commuter ferries are in a terrible state. And then this Government’s flagship policy around road safety, Road to Zero. Well, it’s the “road to zero-maintenance” policy under this Government. It’s the “road to zero-maintenance” policy, they’ve spent, though, $61 million advertising—$61 million advertising. It seems like Michael Wood’s trying to make Phil Twyford look good. He spends all of this money but actually isn’t getting the results that are needed.

And then, of course, we’ve seen the cancellations, the bonfire—the bonfire of policies. The Clean Car Upgrade, all of these other critically important policies which were promoted in last year’s Budget: gone, gone, gone. And to this new Prime Minister. And the only thing that’s actually been progressed in the last 12 months in the annual review is slower speed limits. It takes longer to get around. We’ve got 30-kilometre zones being put in Auckland and Wellington and Hamilton and Christchurch and other places, slowing people down, meaning it’s a less productive economy, harder to get around, more time on the roads, less time doing the things that people want to do. And that is a really sad state of affairs for our transport sector.

And so our time in annual reviews was asking these questions of the officials and trying to get answers as to what is actually happening, and the answer is: transport has never been in such a bad state as it currently is under this Government. It’s going backwards, it’s going slower, it’s less productive. And even the outcomes that this Government says that they’re wanting to achieve are not being achieved. Their road safety goals, hundreds of kilometres of road safety median barriers were meant to be done but all they’ve done is actually put in place 50 kilometres of median barriers—50 kilometres. They promised hundreds of kilometres of median barriers—50 kilometres. They said they were going to do 3 million breath tests every year; they only achieved 1.5 million breath tests for alcohol on our roads in the last financial year.

Hon Judith Collins: How are they going on the drug testing?

SIMEON BROWN: And how’s drug testing going? Well, I’d really appreciate it if the Minister could give us some insights as to how that’s going, because, well, it isn’t going, because they passed legislation which they can’t implement.

Hon Judith Collins: Six years.

SIMEON BROWN: It took six years, as the Hon Judith Collins says; six years—passed legislation which isn’t able to be implemented in New Zealand. They set a test which can’t be implemented. Another failure when it comes to road safety.

And, of course, we have had the tragedy and the challenge of Cyclone Gabrielle, which has left many of our communities asking where this Government is supporting them when it comes to restoring their roading connections. And this Government—$250 million to help our councils and New Zealand Transport Agency repair, but this is going to need far more than $250 million to fix the roads damaged by Cyclone Gabrielle. I was down at Thames-Coromandel district looking at State Highway 25A, and the people of Thames are saying, “What is the solution? When will it be done? Will it be completed before Christmas?” Because that community is dying under what’s happening and the indecisiveness about what the solution is going to be. The communities at East Coast need to have their roads restored. But also, we don’t just need to be restoring these roads, we need to be making sure that we’re also making them more resilient at the same time.

Going North: the Brynderwyns, we look at Dome Valley, which this Government spent $78 million and the road’s worse than when it started. It’s appalling. So, look, I think the Minister of Transport is leading transportation to the worst place it’s ever been in this country, and we need to make sure we’re getting transportation back on the right track.

I’m pleased to stand up and make some opening comments in this debate. I thank both members so far for their contributions. I acknowledge the chair of the Transport and Infrastructure Committee, Shanan Halbert, and the committee members. I think it has been a hard-working select committee over the course of this parliamentary term, and I thank them for their work on this annual review. It is a select committee which has also, I think, done some really good work in respect of trying to get its head around and provide a good forum for public debate and the development of policy ideas in respect of complex issues, such as the inquiries that it has held into congestion charging and, more recently, into inter-regional rail. They are both pieces of work which the Government—well, the first one we have picked up and we are working on; and for the second one, we look forward to receipt of the select committee’s report on that matter soon.

The chair of the select committee rightly identified that the 2021-22 year, which is the subject of this report, was one of considerable transition for the transport sector. It was, effectively, the year in which we started to move out of that COVID emergency period, which had such profound impacts across every part of our society, including the transport sector, and started to get back towards more normal levels of activity. So it was a real year of transition. It was a year, for example, in which the Government continued on with our Maintaining International Air Connectivity scheme, a critical scheme which ensured that New Zealand exporters were able to get their products to market through international aviation at a time at which the international aviation market had pretty much collapsed. It was one of the ways that we kept many of our high-value exports continuing to move forward. And I want to thank Ministry of Transport officials for their work on that scheme and their engagement with much of our business sector during that difficult COVID period, dealing with those international connectivity issues, dealing with issues like the Auckland boundary that had to be navigated. Most people I speak to in the freight sector, while they say, “Look, it was a really tough time.”, found that their engagement with Government officials during this period was incredibly productive and constructive in terms of resolving issues.

This was also a year in which work progressed against a number of the Government’s significant priorities. So we made further progress on mass rapid transit in our major cities.

Simeon Brown: What? How much light rail’s been built?

Hon MICHAEL WOOD: We made further progress in respect of providing New Zealanders with better transport options. While the member to my left—Simeon Brown—continues to criticise and belittle any and all investment in providing better transport choices for New Zealand, our Government, during this period of 2021 to 2022, actually believes that it’s important to give New Zealanders those choices, if we’re serious about creating better places to live and a reduction in our carbon emissions.

The member also has a lot to say about road maintenance, which he suggests was taken to zero under this Government. If indeed road maintenance spending was taken to zero under this Government, I query of the member what it was under the previous National Government when it was 50 percent less after they froze it for eight consecutive years. The member speaks a lot about potholes. Some indeed suggest that there is an unhealthy obsession with this particular topic. The reason that we deal with so many potholes in our system is firstly because we are dealing with a backlog of maintenance, because the party that that member represents froze road maintenance funding for eight years. With any asset that is not maintained properly, such as one’s house or any other asset, if you under-invest in the maintenance in past years, it will catch up on you. So we are getting on the job of fixing up National’s mess there by increasing road maintenance funding by 50 percent, and that is why there has been so much activity in that area.

This is also a year in which the Government got on with its $8.6 billion New Zealand Upgrade Programme with critical investment in transport infrastructure all around New Zealand, including in the Hon Judith Collins’ electorate of Papakura, where there is excellent progress going into the widening of State Highway 1 between Papakura and Drury, into the electrification of the main line between Papakura and Pukekohe, and also into the third main line between Wiri and Westfield. Right across the spectrum—I recognise that the members opposite would like to pave every bit of spare space in the country, with additional motorway tarmac, but that is not our Government’s policy. The members want to build as they did with the East-West Link, an expensive, unnecessary, high-carbon, duplicate motorway next to an existing motorway system. Our Government is intending to ensure that we invest in better transport options for the residents of that part of the city, but we want to actually make sure that we focus on the right things: better safety improvements in that area; ensuring that we have better options for residents. But what we won’t be doing is doing what the previous National Government did and investing in evermore big motorway projects that just increase congestion and increase our carbon emissions.

This is a time-limited debate, so, unfortunately, it will be challenging to address all of the inaccuracies from Mr Brown’s speech, but the one that I do particularly want to touch on is his comment around bus drivers, because, over the course of the past year, we have been doing significant work to deal with this particular challenge.

Simeon Brown: You shut the border; it stopped them coming in.

Hon MICHAEL WOOD: That’s right. Mr Brown notes that the border was closed during the period of COVID-19, and we do note that the National Party changed their position on that issue about six different times as to whether the border should have been open or closed. We actually do stand by our position as a Government that it was a pretty good thing to save many New Zealanders’ lives by protecting this country from COVID-19 at the height of the global pandemic. Now, that did create labour challenges for groups like bus drivers, but, actually, the underlying cause of the bus driver shortage is the crummy pay and conditions that so many bus drivers had to endure because of the Peyton model that was put in place by that previous National Government. That is something that in this 2021-22 year, our Government has got busy addressing by bringing $60 million of investment into Budget 2022 to actually lift our bus driver pay and conditions to sustainable level. And because of that, we are actually beginning to see the bus driver shortage abating. As of the end of 2022, approximately 800 shortage across the country, which has now reduced down to about 500, and I’m confident, in the coming months, we’ll see that reduced down further and service levels improve. Ultimately, the race-to-the-bottom model for bus services that the National Party put in place has cost us. We’re getting on with the job of improving those pay and conditions and also overhauling the framework by bringing in the new sustainable public transport framework—

Hon Judith Collins: Buses run on roads.

Hon MICHAEL WOOD: —that will stop the race to the bottom. Mrs Collins, buses do run on roads; I’m pleased you mentioned that. That’s why we’re investing in important projects like the Eastern Busway, which, in the member’s electorate of Pakuranga, we dug the first shovel on last month to make sure that we actually make sure that bus commuters have the options to actually use efficient, highly prioritised bus services.

This is a Government which is getting on with the job of maintaining our network better, of investing in more transport choices for New Zealanders, and making the network safer. All of those are anathema to a party on that side who’s just obsessed with big motorways. But we’re going to keep doing what we know needs to be done to deliver a more resilient and more carbon friendly network.

Tēnā koutou e te Whare. I do want to just acknowledge the recent announcement by the Minister of the purchase of the new trains and congratulate my colleague over here, the MP for Ōtaki, Terisa Ngobi, who’s also been a huge advocate for that purchase.

Look, it’s very baby steps—though, in the right direction. And, you know, I can’t disagree more with the contribution from the member from the National Party. New Zealand currently has an incredibly inefficient transport system and a very costly transport system because we haven’t invested in efficient passenger transport services and we haven’t invested in communities that are easier to get around without a car. That means that we have to spend a huge amount—all New Zealand households and businesses, if they’re able to drive, have to own a car, that’s at least thousands of dollars a year, to use the roads that Government builds and maintains.

Every time that we make it easier for people to use the bus or the train or the ferry, or to take a bike or to live in a community where they can walk to things, we not only reduce emissions and pollution but we actually give those people more freedom—more freedom to not have to spend thousands of dollars a year on cars, and then tons of time sitting in traffic. So that’s the project. And I do want to acknowledge that the Minister has done—you know, means well and is doing the best in difficult circumstances. But, unfortunately, if you look at the make-up of the New Zealand Upgrade Programme, that’s billions of dollars that could be used to transform our public transport network being used on a couple of roads that, quite frankly, are about greenfields housing development in the worst possible places and not really about improving transport efficiency.

I just don’t think, at this point in time, in 2023, particularly given the huge bill that we have following Cyclone Gabrielle, that we can afford to keep throwing so much money at just a few highway projects where, yes, the road does need to be improved and there are safety upgrades that could be made, but it doesn’t have to carry on in this outrageously expensive, overdesigned way when such a small percentage of daily vehicle trips will be used on that particular road.

So I think, ultimately, we are going to have some institutional change, I think, to get the outcomes that the Government wants from the transport sector. And that is seen very clearly in the disasters we’ve seen for passenger trains as a result of KiwiRail not sufficiently being on top of the maintenance of our regional rail networks, you know, in the urban areas—Auckland and Wellington. I just don’t understand why the Government did a review of the structure of KiwiRail and came to the conclusion that it should remain a State-owned enterprise (SOE) vertically integrated, when, clearly, that makes it very difficult for the organisation to focus on what is needed to have properly maintained safe railway tracks that are of use to passenger trains when they’re very, very focused on freight because they’re an SOE and then they’re required by law, basically, to focus on profitability and dividend when the true benefit to society in New Zealand isn’t in an operating surplus from our freight operations, it’s the good of having transport connections and infrastructure that takes pressure off the roads, that enables more people and goods to move around without having to congest our roading network, without having as high congestion and emissions costs.

One of the more interesting things, I thought, out of the select committee was our two inquiries, one into congestion pricing—which of course had cross-party support for congestion pricing—and the future of passenger rail, which we haven’t reported back on yet.

What I think is of interest in the congestion pricing debate is that, from the parties on the right, we hear that they’re all for road pricing and congestion pricing, but they don’t seem to understand that when people face those costs more directly, there’s going to be huge increased demand for public transport. And that’s why we need to shift the investment in our urban areas to public transport so that there’s sufficient capacity there to meet the demand. And so, you know, I guess that will become clear once we bring in the congestion pricing, because any city that has brought in congestion pricing has used the vast majority of the revenue to pay for more buses and trains. And that’s because it makes economic sense.

With the future of passenger rail, I think the Green Party would like to see a much more ambitious plan for interconnected services right across the country, be they by rail or bus, that they qualify for the same sort of public support that public transport services in cities.

Thank you, Mr Chair. Minister, I’d just like to ask you some questions about the priorities that this Labour Government has with respect to transport in the context of the annual review of the transport sector. Waka Kotahi commissioned a report that identified 40 extreme risks to the transport network. Extreme risks in terms of resilience, and we saw some of those risks manifest during the last severe weather events in January and February, including the Brynderwyn section of State Highway 1 being closed; State Highway 2 through Waiōeka Gorge between Bay of Plenty and Hawke’s Bay, East Cape escape being closed. So, Minister, I’d just like you to give us an update as to what’s happening in terms of response to the 40 extreme risks that were identified.

Oh, thank you very much, Mr Chair. How much does it cost a Labour Government to change a speed sign outside a school? Now, like any good joke teller, I actually know the answer to that, and you couldn’t make it up: $46,000 is how much it costs a Labour Government to change a speed sign outside a school. Why I know that: because under the rules implemented, the new rules by the New Zealand Transport Agency, Christchurch had to put a speed management plan in place. That cost $9.3 million—9.3—for a speed management plan. What’s even more outrageous is 80 percent of that was spent on changing speed signs outside of schools. So the journo, hard-working with his calculator, worked out, at 145 schools, $46,000 per school it took to change that speed sign. How is this happening when the Government, a Labour Government, promised us a “back to basics” in a cost of living crisis? I’d like the Minister in the chair, Michael Wood, to stand up today and respond to the many Cantabrians who want to know how much and why it cost $46,000 to change a speed sign outside a school.

Minister, just further to the priorities that this Government has when it comes to transportation, I want to ask the Minister what action has Waka Kotahi taken to secure planning protection and land acquisition to secure routes for future State highway upgrades and future State highway bypasses of townships like Kumeū and Huapai in West Auckland, where over 15,000 vehicles a day choke those local roads that are also doubling as a State highway, and that cause motorists to spend up to 45 minutes waiting in congestion, creating carbon emissions, and generally their lives being wasted instead of travelling at safe and efficient speeds on a modern State highway. So, Minister, I’m interested in—can you give us an update on what progress Waka Kotahi has made in terms of planning and designation overall, land acquisition and route protection for projects like Kumeū and Huapai.

And then, Minister, I just want to ask you about funding and financing. We understand that there may be a proposal for congestion charging to be brought to the House at some point in the near future. So I just want to ask the Minister about whether there is any coherence in this Government’s approach to funding and financing roading. We understand that, last year, the Minister declined to apply a toll or a road price to the Pūhoi to Warkworth project, and that was a surprise to many because that project’s being built by a consortium. The Government has to pay it back over a certain period, 25 or so years, and potentially that could have been a great opportunity to levy motorists to pay that back separately so that taxpayer funds could be used, say, for the next stage of the Warkworth to Wellsford State Highway 1 improvements. And how is that coherent, when this week the Minister’s announced that people using the Penlink road between Whangaparāoa and East Coast Bays in Auckland will pay a toll, but only for the maintenance of that road, not to repay its capital cost. How is that coherent?

And, Minister, how will Auckland light rail be paid for when, in response to a written question I’ve put to you, Minister, it appears that you have not yet asked Auckland Council whether they will pay for it? So how will that be paid for?

I’m happy to take a few minutes to respond to a number of queries and points from members.

I do want to go back to Mr Brown’s first set of comments, where he did state—I believe very inaccurately—or certainly imply it, that there is a lack of action and focus and work into repairing the damaged roading network in cyclone-affected regions. I just wish to put on record that that is completely inaccurate, and it is, in fact, somewhat offensive to the efforts and endeavours of hundreds of road workers and contractors who are working every single day of the week, and have been under considerable pressure for the last few months to continue opening up that network. Most of the key connections have now been reopened.

State Highway 23, between the Waikato and Raglan, is reopened as of this week. We have two particular areas where there are significant works that need to be done to ensure safe access on State Highway 2 and State Highway 25A on the State highway network. We have made significant progress in the Hawke’s Bay region—the most affected across the local road network—with the signing of an interim alliance arrangement to ensure that there is a linked-up plan between Waka Kotahi and local councils to repair that network. Bailey bridges have gone in to provide access across many of those rural areas where communities have been cut off, with a number more that are likely to come into effect as of this month.

This is a significant impact on our transport system that will likely require billions of dollars’ worth of investment. The member notes that the Government has made an additional $250 million of investment to provide space for Waka Kotahi’s emergency work budgets to fund this work, and we have recognised that there will need to be more investment to come. So I simply want to put on record that it is inaccurate to suggest that there is a lack of focus on this. It is the primary focus of Waka Kotahi, and also affected councils and many contractors at the moment.

I note the comments from the Hon Julie Anne Genter. She commented on the nature of the New Zealand Upgrade Programme. I do need to note that the primary New Zealand Upgrade Programme was, in fact, signed off by transport Ministers in the previous administration, between 2017 and 2020. The member asking the question was one of those Ministers. I recognise that the overall programme includes a number of different investments across road, rail, walking, and cycling. In fact, the changes that have been made in this term—with me as Minister—have tried to put greater focus on the sustainable modes of transport, including funding for the Whangārei to Port Marsden rail link, for example.

Mr Court asked a couple of questions, one related to the range of risks that Waka Kotahi has noted across its network. Waka Kotahi continues to work with local councils—bearing in mind that sometimes these risks will be on State highway network; sometimes they will be on local roads—to address those risks where we can. The member asked about planning protection designation for better transport to the north-west. There has been significant planning work put into roading improvements in the north-west that are included in the Auckland Transport Alignment Project, and I understand that they are continuing to work through the business casing programme. The member will be pleased to note that, as of earlier this year, the designation process for mass rapid transit to the north-west of Auckland, and, actually, also for the airport to Botany busway, the designation process for both of those projects was started by Waka Kotahi earlier this year. So the member can be rest assured that, while I understand that there are significant pressures in that region, there is real focus on improving things there.

I will make the point that if we simply encourage more and more people in that region to pop in their cars for every journey, it will just result in more congestion. That is why the work on mass rapid transit and the interim work on the north-western busway—which is moving forward—is so important.

The member asked about the coherence of tolling decisions that have been made, and it is correct that the decision not to toll the Pūhoi-Warkworth road was made in the 2021-22 year. More recently, we have made the decision to proceed with tolling on O Mahurangi - Penlink. There are particular reasons for that. In respect to the first decision, the main reason that that decision was made was that, in my view, putting a toll on that road would have meant that a number of people would have, effectively, had to have paid double tolls along that stretch, and some local residents would, in effect, not have had the ability to avoid using a toll road. One of the considerations that the legislation sets out is whether there is, effectively, the ability to have a free route for local movements. So that is the reason behind that decision. In the case of Penlink and Whangaparāoa, there is, in my view, a strong case for a tolling proposal to proceed to support maintenance, and there is very clearly a free route that local residents are able to use.

Mr Doocey—enjoyed his little speech around speed limit changes in his area. I can be very clear that in the 2021-22 year, we were actually very proud to sign-off on the new speed rule, which does take us in the direction of safer speeds around our kids’ schools. Our Government stands behind that: that local kids walking or biking to their local school should be able to do that safely. It is something that is extraordinarily popular with our school communities and most of our local communities. We’ve given local government the ability to set speed limits in consultation with their local communities. The exercise that the member refers to was a local government - led exercise, and I’m quite sure that if the member delves into it further, he will find that his mathematics actually include a lot of additional costs that go into ensuring that those areas can be safer. I know that members on that side of the House don’t put any particular priority around safer roads around our schools, but it is a priority for this Government.

Thank you, Mr Chair. I’ve got a number of questions and I’m keen to ask the Minister to clarify his positions in regard to them. I’d like to know what his commitment is, or not, in regards to the Mill Road corridor. Is the Minister still considering a business case in regards to the Mill Road corridor? Is he committed to funding an upgrade on that highway or not? I think the good people of South Auckland would like to know the answer to that.

In relation to Ōtaki to Levin, the question there is whether this Government is committed to the four-lane expressway from Ōtaki to Levin and whether that is something which is still on track to be delivered by 2029.

And in regards to some of these roads which have been damaged by Cyclone Gabrielle, State Highway 25A, the question is when a decision will be made around the fixing of that particular road and whether that will be completed by Christmas. Those communities are feeling desperate, they are feeling let down by this Government where they have not had the answers and the information that they need, and they need a clear plan. And if you look back at what this Government did when faced with challenges such as Kaikōura, we had a plan in place within weeks, in terms of how we were going to respond, how we were going to fund it, how we were going to deliver it. This Government has now had around three months and we still do not know the answer to many of those questions in relation to those communities. The Minister says this is billions of dollars. Yes, it’s billions of dollars. Cancel Auckland light rail—you’ll save 29 billion bucks straight away—and get on and fix these roads and build some resilience into our networks.

And finally, in relation to Auckland light rail, I’d like to ask the Minister—it was said earlier in the year, after the new Prime Minister came in and said they were still committed to it but they were going to deliver it in stages—can the Minister give the House some understanding about what delivering light rail in stages will mean? Is that the stage of acceptance, the stage of grief, the stage of denial? Which stage will come first? Because the stage which is not being talked about is the stage of delivery. And if the Government is focused on delivery, what stage will be delivered first and in which time frame? Because I note this Government said they would deliver light rail from Auckland CBD to Mount Roskill by 2021. Where is it? In which year will it be delivered and which stages will be completed first? Because this Government is very good at the announcements, very good at saying “We’ll do this, we’ll do that, we’ll do everything else.”, but, when it comes to delivery, this Government has a poor track record when it comes to transport delivery in New Zealand, and New Zealanders know that.

Thank you, Mr Chair, and thank you to the Minister for acknowledging the hard work of our committee. Mr Chair, through you, I’d be really interested to hear from the Minister around how the recent announcement in terms of the investment in lower North Island rail supports both the mode shift and has affected our decarbonisation goals. Also, if the Minister could talk about what this means for commuters, especially for places like the Ōtaki electorate? That is Waikanae, and I know it goes further north, so it’s Ōtaki and Levin right through to Palmerston North—what it means in terms of their transport choices.

I’d also like to add too, just around Ō2NL, or Ōtaki to north of Levin, I know that I’ve had many conversations—and the Minister has talked about this in the select committee, as well—around confirming it and around confirming the $1.5 billion investment that we’ve already confirmed. So it would be really good to hear the Minister talk about that, especially for the naysayers out there. Thank you.

Minister, there was a question that I posed before that you didn’t respond to, so I’m just wondering if you could respond. Auckland Light Rail is a project that, if it proceeds, will need somewhere in the region of $16 billion to $29 billion of funding based on Treasury’s current estimates. Have you asked Auckland Council whether they will contribute to it, and, if not, why not?

I’ll address a number of questions that members have raised. Mr Brown, firstly, asked about the Mill Road corridor, and I’ll just quickly repeat the response that I provided earlier on in the debate. The Government is of the view that it is important to invest in that corridor—we have confirmed that through the New Zealand Upgrade Programme repeatedly—but what we do not believe is appropriate and responsible is simply to turn that road, effectively, into a gold-plated mini motorway. We do not think that will serve the community well. We do not think it will be a safer option. We do not think that it will reduce carbon emissions—in fact, it will do very much the opposite. So we’ve asked officials to engage in further work to make sure that we develop a more sustainable solution for that corridor that is focused on community safety and focused on providing better transport choices.

I’m very pleased to, in response to Mr Brown—but, also, I acknowledge the local MP Terisa Ngobi’s question around the future of the Ōtaki to north of Levin project. I’m really pleased that it’s a part of our New Zealand Upgrade Programme. I acknowledge the local member’s advocacy in respect of this issue, and it’s something that we have been really clear and consistent is a project that we will be moving forward with as a part of the New Zealand Upgrade Programme. It is a very significant project that involves a great deal of planning, significant land acquisitions, and it’s in that phase now. The expectation remains that it will likely move towards the start of construction in 2025 with an opening date of approximately 2029, in answer to the member’s question.

In respect of State Highway 25A, the question from Mr Brown, we said it in March that this would, effectively, be a three-stage process to work towards a decision, in terms of the best way to rebuild that connection. Firstly, solid geotechnical work to understand the conditions around the road—that took a long time to do because, actually, even up until now the ground is very soft and is still moving, so it’s been important to do that work very carefully, which Waka Kotahi has been working through. Secondly, based on that good data, is the assessment as to what the best engineering solution is—not just to do the reconnection but to make sure that the reconnection is a durable and resilient one, because we do know how important it is for the community. We are acutely aware of the difficulties it creates for the communities on the eastern side of the peninsula to not have that road in place. I don’t think we would be thanked for doing a cheap, quick, and easy option that wasn’t resilient and experienced further damage. So we’re doing that work now. We see that the third stage, then, would be in May, where we would be in a position to confirm the way in which we are taking that solution forward—that remains the case. I expect there to be an announcement later this month around the way that that project is taken forward, and we will move forward with all reasonable speed in order to ensure that that connection is completed.

In respect to the member’s question around Auckland light rail stages, this is the common way that large infrastructure projects are taken forward. You take a big project and you look at how you break it down and deliver it. A good way of thinking about it, which members opposite might feel a little more comfortable about, is the Waikato Expressway. That was a project that, in effect, started in about 1997—

Hon David Bennett: No, it didn’t.

Hon MICHAEL WOOD: —yes, it did—and it was done in 10 different stages between 1997 and 2022. [Interruption] The member makes an unusual comment—

Hon David Bennett: Point of order. The member is misleading the House in saying that it started in 1997. It’s a common approach taken by the Labour Party—

CHAIRPERSON (Greg O’Connor): That is not a point of order. The member can stand and make a speech later on if he wants to have another version of events.

Hon MICHAEL WOOD: And the final stage, of course, was opened by our Government late last year. So that was a way of breaking down a large project and delivering it in an efficient and effective way over a period of time. It’s the same with building a mass rapid transit network in our largest city, something our Government is committed to.

Terisa Ngobi also asked about the lower North Island rail announcements that we have recently made. This will be a game-changer for the people of the Wellington region. It will enable peak-hour services to at least double, which means that for those communities north of Waikanae—it was the previous Labour Government that brought electrified commuter services up to Waikanae. Now, for the communities between Waikanae and Palmerston North, at least doubling the peak-hour services—the same on the Wairarapa Line. Also, time savings for those communities, enabling people to connect to work, education, and other social or economic communities. So hugely positive, and, again, I thank the member for her advocacy on behalf of our communities for that one.

Finally, Mr Court asked about Auckland light rail funding. We’ve been consistent about this, that we know that there will need to be a significant funding share from the Crown, and we continue to engage with our other partners as we refine costs and assess what the best way of paying for the project is over the long run.

I just want to ask the Minister in the chair, Michael Wood, about the KiwiRail iReX project, which is intended to deliver new terminals in Wellington and Picton. Minister, is that project on track, and is it likely that the terminals will be completed before the new ferries arrive in Wellington?

Briefly, before my time expires, the iReX project is a really important one to make sure that we do have a reliable ferry service across the Cook Strait—should’ve been gotten on with years ago, and the reason we have challenges across the Cook Strait is because the previous Government didn’t do that. So we’re proud to be making those investments. We continue to work with KiwiRail to make sure that it’s delivered well. Like any significant capital project, it does face cost pressures at the moment, and we’re continuing to work those through with KiwiRail.

Members, our time with the Minister of Transport has ended. Thank you, Minister. The Minister for Social Development and Employment is now available for 45 minutes to respond to members’ questions.

Angie Warren-Clark: Mr Chair.

CHAIRPERSON (Greg O’Connor): Angie Warren-Clark—we’ll just wait till the Minister reaches the seat, please, but your enthusiasm is to be admired.

Angie Warren-Clark: Thank you!

Social Development and Employment