Brian Rudman: Peters could slam the gate on tolls

He's not an Aucklander, but this scrapper could finally slam the gate on tolls

At the risk of being mistaken for a roadaholic, I disagree with Wellington-based media claims that Auckland roads and public transport came out the big winner from Land Transport New Zealand's latest funding allocations.

Auckland, with around 32 per cent of the country's population, will get just 26.7 per cent of the state funding going over the next 12 months.

But if being short-changed is nothing new, neither is Transit New Zealand turning on the old cracked record that repeats ad infinitum that if Auckland wants to ever see the western ring route completed, we're going to have to pay tolls as well.

Chief executive Rick van Barneveld was blunt. He warned that the long-promised bypass would miss its 2015 completion target by at least 10 years unless Auckland motorists paid twice. What he didn't explain is why Aucklanders are expected to pay more for our roads and public transport than anyone else.

It's enough to start lobbying for Winston Peters to be appointed Minister for Auckland Affairs. The New Zealand First leader certainly knows how to see off Transit and the Government when it comes to tolls.

Indeed, last October he made the dropping of tolls on Tauranga's new harbour bridge the "number one" condition of his agreement to prop up the current Labour-led coalition. This, even though the people of Tauranga had rejected him as local MP.

Why? "Because the people of Tauranga have been good to me over the past 21 years."

Now that's the sort of loyalty and fighting spirit Auckland needs in dealing with Government. And with Mr Peters now based in the top floor of downtown Auckland's Peoples' Centre, the timing couldn't be better.

What I don't understand is why the Government lets Mr Van Barneveld go on and on about Auckland-only tolling and, in particular, the targeted tolling of the western ring route from Manukau City through Onehunga, Mt Roskill and on to West Auckland. This is all Labour heartland.

It was the last-minute returns from the big South Auckland seats last election night that, legend has it, saved Labour's grip on power and Helen Clark's throne. Only a Prime Minister bent on electoral suicide would now support a plan that forced these core supporters to pay a toll every time they ventured on to their neighbourhood motorway, while the Tory voters of the North Shore and Eastern Suburbs enjoyed a free ride on theirs.

It doesn't make any political sense. But it would make sense for the Government to tell Transit that tolling is off the agenda and suggest it spends the tens of millions of dollars being earmarked for tolling investigations and set-up on something useful, like a train line to the airport, or a rapid rail loop under the Auckland CBD.

Obviously opinions within Transit are divided. Public consultation was supposed to have been launched six weeks ago. Now we're told the Transit board will make a final decision within the next two months and the public consultation process, if approved, will start after that.

A year ago, Cabinet papers revealed that an Auckland network-wide tolling system would cost $53.5 million to set up. It also showed the planned Puhoi to Orewa tollway would gobble $1.35 of the proposed $1.80 toll in administration costs.

In March this year the scene was muddled by a noncommital report on the benefits or otherwise of tolling's cousin, road pricing. Aucklanders were shown four options supposed to "price" sufficient numbers out of their cars and on to public transport, to leave the roads uncongested for those who could afford to keep driving.

That month's Transport Minister, David Parker, said the Government had no preferred scheme nor any timetable for introducing charges. Within the month, the Regional Land Transport Committee gave the whole project the thumbs down and that's the last I heard of it.

Now the Wellington bureaucrats are giving tolling another whirl. Unfortunately we don't have an MP of our own in our midst like the people of Tauranga did, who will shout and scream on our behalf. The Labour MPs are neutered by a reluctance to criticise their own Government and the National MPs, bless them, are all for tolling. That leaves just Winston.

He's not really ours, but if he's still got his anti-toll speeches, I'm willing to adopt him. On a trial basis at least.