Written questions

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• (matches this search)

  Which specific roads or corridors in the Western Bay of Plenty are being considered for new tolls under the Western Bay of Plenty Deal, if any, and what toll rates have been modelled?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• (matches this search)

  Who are the members of the Auckland Deal Oversight Board, how many times has it met, and are its agendas and papers publicly available, if not, why not?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• (matches this search)

  What advice has been received on whether an Auckland accommodation levy would be set, collected and retained locally or set nationally, if any, and which agency would collect it?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• (matches this search)

  What decision-making powers, if any, were devolved from central government to Auckland Council under the Auckland Deal?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• (matches this search)

  How much additional Crown funding, if any, has been committed to Auckland as a direct result of the Auckland Deal that was not already committed before 10 April 2026?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• 34936 (matches this search)

  Which commitments in the Auckland Deal signed on 10 April 2026 have been completed, which are behind schedule, and what is the reason for each delay?

• 34937 (matches this search)

  What is the current status of the Auckland Deal commitment to explore an accommodation levy in 2027, which agency is leading that work, and when will decisions be made?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• (matches this search)

  What advice has been received on a public transport service connecting Alexandra, Cromwell, Wānaka and Queenstown, if any, and what is the estimated annual operating subsidy?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• (matches this search)

  What is the current house price-to-income ratio in the Queenstown Lakes district, if any, and what target, if any, does the Government hold for reducing it?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• (matches this search)

  How many affordable or workforce dwellings will the Otago Central Lakes Regional Deal commit to delivering, over what period, and against what definition of affordability, if any?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• (matches this search)

  Which schools or other education facilities in the Queenstown Lakes and Central Otago districts have been identified as requiring investment to support forecast population growth, if any, and what is the estimated cost of each?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• (matches this search)

  What commitments relating to health infrastructure in the Queenstown Lakes district, including any privately funded hospital proposal, are contemplated in the Otago Central Lakes Regional Deal, if any?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• (matches this search)

  What advice, if any, has been received on electricity transmission and distribution constraints affecting growth in the Queenstown Lakes and Central Otago districts, and what network investment commitments are contemplated in the regional…

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• (matches this search)

  What modelling has been undertaken of peak travel times between Jack's Point, Hanley's Farm and central Queenstown, and what peak travel times are forecast for 2028 and 2036 under currently committed investment?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• (matches this search)

  What new levy or charging instruments is the Government developing, if any, to require fast-track projects to contribute to network infrastructure beyond their own sites, and when will those instruments be available for use?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• (matches this search)

  What is the current forecast total cost and completion date of the $250 million Queenstown Package, how do those figures compare with the forecasts at the April 2024 ground-breaking, and what are the reasons for any variance?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• (matches this search)

  How many fast-track approvals have been granted for projects in the Queenstown Lakes and Central Otago districts, if any, and how many dwellings do those projects provide for in total / what infrastructure contributions are each required…

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• (matches this search)

  How much International Visitor Levy revenue has been allocated to the Queenstown Lakes District Council, the Central Otago District Council and the Otago Regional Council in each year since 2019/20?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• (matches this search)

  What advice has been received on enabling the Queenstown Lakes District Council to levy an accommodation levy or bed tax, if any, what rate range was modelled, and what annual revenue was estimated at each rate?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• (matches this search)

  What advice has been received on congestion charging in the Queenstown Lakes district, including which corridors were modelled and what revenue and travel-time effects were estimated, if any?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• (matches this search)

  Which specific funding and financing tools are contemplated in the Otago Central Lakes Regional Deal, and which of them would require new primary legislation before they could be used?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• (matches this search)

  When will the Otago Central Lakes Regional Deal be signed, and what accounts for it being signed later than the Auckland and Western Bay of Plenty deals?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• (matches this search)

  How many meetings have taken place between officials working on City and Regional Deals and officials working on local government reorganisation since 1 January 2026, and what was the purpose of each?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• (matches this search)

  When was the Minister first advised that City and Regional Deals were being negotiated with regional councils at the same time as policy was being developed to disestablish regional councils?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• (matches this search)

  What advice, if any, has been received on whether a region's progress towards council amalgamation will be a factor in selecting regions for future City and Regional Deals?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• (matches this search)

  What will happen to the commitments made by the Bay of Plenty Regional Council under the Western Bay of Plenty Deal, and by the Otago Regional Council under any Otago Central Lakes deal, once regional councils are disestablished?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• (matches this search)

  What provision, if any, do the Auckland Deal and the Western Bay of Plenty Deal make for the transfer of a council's obligations to a successor local authority, and if no such provision exists, what legislative mechanism would be used?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• (matches this search)

  Which councils that are signatories to a signed City and Regional Deal have been identified as likely to be disestablished or amalgamated under the Government's local government reorganisation programme, if any?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• (matches this search)

  How are pre-existing Treaty of Waitangi settlement obligations given effect in each signed City and Regional Deal, if at all, and what advice was received on that question before signing?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• (matches this search)

  Which private sector organisations and which iwi or hapū entities were consulted during the negotiation of each City and Regional Deal, if any, and what records of those meetings are held?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• (matches this search)

  What is the total dollar value of Crown commitments in each signed City and Regional Deal, and how much of that value was already committed through the National Land Transport Programme or other funding decisions made before the deal was…

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• (matches this search)

  How much new appropriation, if any, was allocated specifically to City and Regional Deals in Budget 2025 and Budget 2026, and under which Vote and appropriation does it sit?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• (matches this search)

  What advice or correspondence has been received from the Auditor-General, the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission or the Treasury, if any, on the design, transparency or value for money of the City and Regional Deals programme?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• (matches this search)

  What performance measures, baselines and reporting requirements, if any, have been set for each signed City and Regional Deal, when will the first public progress report be published, and which agency is responsible for publishing it?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• (matches this search)

  What advice has been received on whether a signed City and Regional Deal binds successive governments, and what process would apply if a future government wished to withdraw from one?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• (matches this search)

  Which specific clauses of the Auckland Deal and the Western Bay of Plenty Deal are legally binding on the Crown, if any, and what remedy is available to a council if the Crown does not meet a commitment?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• (matches this search)

  What Regulatory Impact Statement, cost-benefit analysis or Treasury advice, if any, was prepared before Cabinet agreed the Regional Deals Strategic Framework?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• (matches this search)

  What estimate, if any, does the Government hold of the total cost incurred by councils in preparing City and Regional Deal proposals and negotiating deals, and what proportion of that cost was met from rates?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• (matches this search)

  How many full-time equivalent staff across all government agencies, if any, are currently assigned to the City and Regional Deals programme, and which agency is the lead agency following the establishment of the Ministry for Cities,…

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• (matches this search)

  How much has the Crown spent on the City and Regional Deals programme since 27 November 2023, broken down by financial year and by departmental salaries, contractors and consultants, external legal advice, and travel?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• (matches this search)

  What written feedback, if any, was provided to each region whose City and Regional Deal proposal was not selected in June 2025, and what reasons for non-selection were recorded in each case?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• (matches this search)

  How many, if any, regions registered an intention to submit a light-touch City and Regional Deal proposal in the round that closed on 28 February 2025, how many proposals were received, and what is the name of each region that submitted…

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• (matches this search)

  What is the estimated total construction cost of the Warkworth to Te Hana section of the Northland Expressway, and what proportion of total construction cost does that represent?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• (matches this search)

  Will the Crown Capital Contribution to the Northway consortium be scheduled in multiple payments, if so how are they scheduled and what construction milestones must be met before each payment is made?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• (matches this search)

  Who are all of the parties and guarantors to the Warkworth to Te Hana Project Agreement, and what is the legal structure of the special purpose vehicle established for the project?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• (matches this search)

  How many members, if any, of the governing boards of Crown entities within his portfolios have resigned, retired, been removed, or not been reappointed since he became Minister of Transport, and how many of those had been appointed by the…

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• (matches this search)

  Does he intend to make any further changes to the membership of the NZTA board, including to the position of chair currently held by Simon Bridges?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• (matches this search)

  How many NZTA board meetings were held between 1 January 2026 and 27 July 2026, and what was the attendance of each board member at those meetings?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• (matches this search)

  When, if at all, was he first advised that rising cost estimates would require a reprioritisation of the Roads of National Significance programme, ahead of the reprioritisation he announced in July 2026?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• (matches this search)

  What change, if any, has there been in the total estimated costs of the Roads of National Significance programme since the release of the Government Policy Statement on land transport 2024?

Asked by

Tangi Utikere

Member for Palmerston North · Labour Party

• 34355 (matches this search)

  Was the NZTA board's oversight of cost estimates for Roads of National Significance projects a factor in his conclusion that the board required a different balance of skills and experience?

• 34385 (matches this search)

  What has changed, if anything, in the skills required of the NZTA board since Pat Dougherty was appointed to it in August 2024 and Mike Rudge in November 2024?