John Armstrong: Hesitant Tizard has last word

You would think after a Budget which claims to do more for Auckland than any in recent memory that the Minister for Auckland Issues would be looking for every opportunity to blow her own trumpet from atop the parliamentary ramparts.

But Judith Tizard, who can unconsciously manage to sound both slightly haughty and somewhat hesitant, was curiously defensive in the House yesterday when Rodney Hide asked which Budget initiatives were hers, if any.

It was the provocative "if any" which probably rankled. She knew it would be cue for more Opposition scoffing about her job being a sinecure.

Sick of being tagged a lightweight, she was ready with a heavyweight answer so leaden that it could only have been written by one of her officials.

"I had discussions with many ministers ... including the Minister of Finance, about funding the Government's priority areas to ensure that Auckland has the social, economic, and environmental infrastructure to make it internationally competitive and still a good place to live."

Yawn. It was left to Mr Hide to point out that the Budget was actually about roads - or rather the lack of them.

But mentioning roading was a mistake. It gave Judith Tizard an excuse to read out a "huge list" of projects which would now be completed sooner.

Soon enough, the Opposition was again "Judith-baiting", with National's Richard Worth wondering why the Minister for Auckland was the fifth-biggest spending minister when it came to domestic air travel - her $42,083 total ahead of even the Minister of Finance.

"Part of my role is to talk with the rest of New Zealand ... ", she began, provoking a gale of laughter

That silly-sounding statement made far more sense when she was allowed to finish. She talked to other New Zealanders because Auckland needed the funds to become an internationally competitive city. Otherwise, the wider economy would suffer.

And, of course, she held other portfolios including Consumer Affairs, Associate Commerce, Associate Arts, Culture and Heritage, and responsibility for the National Library - all of which were nationwide roles.

But help was on hand. New Zealand First's Peter Brown chose to be a surrogate Winston Peters in his master's absence. It has been the leader's habit to ask a soft question to allow struggling Labour ministers to get one back on their Opposition tormentors.

So, Mr Brown joked, was it true that she had sought money in the Budget for the establishment of a dancing school in Epsom? Her reply that dancing in Epsom was not a high priority for her portfolio brought Mr Hide to his feet once more. But not to dance.

He cut to the chase. What Auckland issues had she identified, analysed and solved during her seven "long" years in the portfolio.

Once again, her initial reply caught her out. "I have had an enormously rewarding time ... " she began to more mirth from the the Opposition.

But she was wise to a further question from the Act leader.

He wanted to know if she thought Auckland's traffic congestion had increased or decreased since she had been Auckland's minister.

It was a trick question. Saying it had increased would be an admission of failure. Saying it had decreased would open her to ridicule.

But she had spotted the trap. She ventured that congestion had been kept to a "reasonable level" given that every five years a city the size of Wellington moved to Auckland.

It was the politician's answer - neither one thing nor the other. But it was the right answer.