Complete disregard of commuters

I note the views of Jon Reeves, NZ First’s long-term candidate for Hunua, regarding the Mill Road extension (Opinion, May 22). His assertion that Mill Road ‘‘barely touches the massive Hunua electorate’’ is absurd.

It also shows a complete disregard for the thousands of commuters who battle every day to get on to the Southern Motorway from places such as Franklin and Ormiston/Mission Heights, and areas further afield.

That was the reason Papakura MP Judith Collins and I fought so hard to have an entire new, alternative motorway, starting in Manukau and finishing between Drury and Ramarama, taken over, consented and paid for by the then National Government.

We wanted to prevent the problem of people being forced to sit in their cars for hours while trying to get to and from work.

The National Government agreed to use the fast track consenting process and to commit the $1 billion required to complete the project in one go. That would have seen the work finished and the road in use in a matter of years.

Unfortunately, the coalition Government (which the candidate from NZ First belongs to) has chosen to ‘‘plan’’ to build this new motorway progressively over several decades.

Jon Reeves should also know that the electrification of the railway line to Pukekohe was already part of the Auckland Transport Alignment Project agreed between the National Government and Auckland Council.

Andrew Bayly, MP for Hunua