Keith Locke wants more certainty for public transport

Keith Locke: How many new public transport projects has the Minister announced since he took office, or are all they all pre-existing projects, some of whose public funding is less certain now, such as the building of new railway stations in Auckland? Hon STEVEN JOYCE: We have not announced significant new public transport projects. What we have done is change the funding of Auckland transport projects. We have focused transport expenditure to match the modes of transport available to New Zealanders to get to and from work every day, such as car, truck, motorcycle, bus, or train. Hon Darren Hughes: Do the deep cuts to public transport of nearly half a billion dollars over what had been scheduled mean that the prospect of new electric trains working before the Rugby World Cup in 2011 has now disappeared, and that Kiwis and tourists will still have to fork out $70 for a taxi ride from the city to the airport? Hon STEVEN JOYCE: The member has two problems with his numbers. I do not know where he gets the half a billion dollars from, and the electric trains were not scheduled to be in place by the 2011 Rugby World Cup in anybody's imagination except that of the previous member for ÅŒtaki.