Transport Minister Meeting

May 16

I attended the National Party public meeting, held at Glen Eden Baptist Church, where Transport Minister Simon Bridges gave an address about government spending on Auckland roading projects. On my arrival I was greeted by someone I thought was a parking attendant showing me where to go, however I could not understand the gestures, and on winding down the driver’s window, found it was actually a protester waving a placard at me. I suppose I should have gone to Specsavers for my glasses but in my defence it was dark and raining. The Minister talked about current and future projects in the Auckland region, he gave facts and figures that were all pretty interesting. He pointed out Auckland equates to 35% of New Zealand’s GDP and associated this fact to the claim that a prosperous Auckland is essential for the economic health of New Zealand. He quantified, in dollar terms, the amount of time Aucklander’s spend sitting in motorway traffic, which of course many of us experience on a daily basis. He said that 20 years ago total government spending on Auckland roads was only in the tens of millions. Today the budget for current and future projects is at $2.5 billion. This commitment by central government reflects his earlier point, that a prosperous Auckland is essential for the economy. Responding to a question, the Transport Minister pointed out that government understood Auckland Council was unable to contribute any further funds to roading projects above its present budget for the next 10 years. It is very important that Auckland has good roading, but I am always staggered at the amount of money each of these projects consumes. Aucklander’s have to be able to contribute to the costs of projects which are primarily for Auckland’s benefit. I told the minister it was my observation that in the 20 year timeframe he had given for the increase in government spending on Auckland roading, there had been an equally extraordinary increase in compliancing charges. I also asked how much of that $2.5 billion to be spent on our roads actually got to the finished road surface, compared to the amount spent on Consenting and Workplace Compliance. He didn’t have the answer, and to be fair I didn’t think he would, but this is a very clear issue most people understand. On a final note, the fact that Auckland contributes 35% of New Zealand’s GDP is not a surprise because Auckland has around 35% of New Zealand’s population and therein lies the problem. You can’t outgrow your problems if the problem is growth. No mention was made of the number of people migrating to Auckland both from within and without New Zealand.