25 September 2003

Hon Paul Swain Minister of Transport L 5 EXECUTIVE WING

Dear Minister

LAND TRANSPORT MANAGEMENT BILL

I would like to invite you to meet with me to discuss how National can work with you to ensure the Land Transport Management Bill will, in your words “allow for more long-term planning, introduce more flexible funding for transport projects in line with regional priorities and expand the objectives of Transit and Transfund”.

As the bill stands I am very concerned that the Greens may have undue influence, and the outcomes for transport infrastructure in New Zealand will be poor.

In particular, National believes the following must be in the bill to ensure positive outcomes for New Zealand:

Economic efficiency is needed in this bill – New Zealand can’t afford poor quality spending decisions;

There needs to be an allowance for flexible network tolling;

The provisions for PPPs simply aren’t flexible enough to be workable; and

We need to strengthen the bill to ensure that the private sector is interested in being part of the PPP mix.

I look forward to your prompt response so that we can work together to get New Zealand’s transport needs and outcomes back on track.

Yours sincerely

Hon Roger Sowry National Spokesman for Transport

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