MEDIA RELEASE

3 September 1999

Auckland ready for Government action on roads

Treasurer Bill English said today he had been discussing roads with Local Bodies and others in Auckland, who were keen to see the Government take action.

"I have had a number of discussions with people in Auckland about the roading problem and am picking up a growing impatience over the lack of action. People are keen to see the Government move forward.

"The Government has the toolkit. We have spent three years working on a new set of rules for making decisions on transport spending and that has been the subject of extensive consultation.

"The core idea is very simple. Right now we can build only what we have the cash to pay for. It's the same as if we had a rule that people could only pay cash for a house. We propose to change from a cash system to an investment system. That means we can look at long-term financing, including borrowing. Investing, over say 30 years, for a return means quite a different mindset than rationing this year's cash.

"It is time we got on with the job because the economic costs of transport problems in Auckland are huge," said Mr English.

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