31503 (2026). Tangi Utikere to the Minister of Transport

31503 (2026). Tangi Utikere to the Minister of Transport: Which projects in the July 2026 Major Transport Projects Pipeline, if any, have had funding reduced or removed compared with the 2024–27 National Land Transport Programme as adopted?

Hon Chris Bishop: None. The 2024–27 National Land Transport Programme (NLTP) did not allocate funding to individual Roads of National Significance (RoNS) projects. As noted on page 9 of the adopted NLTP, all RoNS projects remained subject to future investment and funding decisions by NZTA: https://nzta.govt.nz/assets/planning-and-investment/nltp/2024/docs/2024-27-national-land-transport-programme.pdf. The State Highway Investment Proposal (SHIP) 2024–34, released in April 2024, proposed staging individual projects over a 10-year period (approximately three NLTP cycles): https://www.nzta.govt.nz/assets/resources/state-highway-investment-proposal-2024-34/state-highway-investment-proposal-2024-34.pdf. When I assumed the Transport portfolio in January 2025, I received a briefing from NZTA that provides a high level update on RoNS which notes the projects had been grouped into three waves: https://nzta.govt.nz/assets/resources/briefing-for-incoming-minister/briefing-to-incoming-minister-jan-2025.pdf Following completion and endorsement of the RoNS investment cases in August 2025, the NZTA Board approved funding to allow projects to progress to their next phase of development, in line with the work programmes set out in the current NLTP and to ensure they would be ready for construction. Further work was subsequently undertaken to assess the long-term sequencing and delivery of the RoNS programme. This informed the three-phase structure used in the Major Transport Projects Pipeline (MTPP) announced on 9 July 2026. In short, the MTPP does not remove or reduce any existing project-specific NLTP funding allocations. Rather, it provides greater visibility of the anticipated sequencing, readiness, and delivery timing of projects across the wider RoNS programme. The projects remain central to NZTA's long-term plans, as outlined in Arataki, NZTA's 30-year plan, released in June 2026.