Willis calls $9 Auckland crossing toll a 'completely hypothetical scenario'

National's Nicola Willis says the government has not given any consideration to putting a $9 toll on both the Auckland Harbour Bridge and a new crossing, calling it a "completely hypothetical scenario".

And Labour says any such move would have to be "thought through very carefully" given the cost of living.

The Infrastructure Commission this week suggested twin $9 tolls as way of funding a tunnel or a second bridge across Waitematā Harbour.

In response, Transport Minister Chris Bishop said any new crossing would be tolled, but the government was still seeking advice regarding the existing bridge.

Speaking on Morning Report's political panel, Willis played down the $9 figure.

"I just want to be really clear that that is a completely hypothetical scenario in the Infrastructure Commission's plan. It's not something that the government has given consideration to."

Willis said both National and Labour faced a challenge in paying for the "essential" multi-billion dollar project as no funding had been put aside.

"How do you pay for it? And what the experts and advisers always say is, you should make sure that the users of roads are contributing the cost to them.

"And actually, that's a road that would have so many vehicle movements a day that actually a toll to help pay for it would mean you could deliver it sooner."

Labour's deputy Carmel Sepuloni said her party was "not completely opposed" to the notion of tolling but said they needed to be "thought through very carefully".

"For someone like me who doesn't go over the the Harbour Bridge very often, and perhaps is in a better position to be able to pay the $9, it's not a big deal, but for someone who's travelling over that bridge every day and going to work and perhaps not on the highest income, that becomes quite a big deal."

Sepuloni said the government needed to think about ways to ensure any tolls were affordable given the pressures of the cost of living.

"We need to make sure that any measure, including tolls, are fair and equitable."

Willis said both political parties had made decisions in recent years to keep petrol taxes a bit lower, meaning that road funding had had to be topped up from general taxation.

But she said that also raised questions of fairness: "we used to have the concept that those who use the roads pay for them".

Auckland mayor Wayne Brown told Midday Report the $9 figure was based on "ludicrous proposals" for a new bridge or tunnel.

"A bridge next door to the existing bridge which solves nothing, or a tunnel which is even more insane," he said.

"If you convert it back to the $9, people will say 'gee, that's a lot'."

Brown said his idea of a bridge connecting Point Chevalier to the North Shore over Meola Reef was more sensible - but he wouldn't say whether it should be tolled.

"A, it's infinitely cheaper, and B, it ends up on a piece of land the government owns, so they can develop that and cover a lot of the costs."

Brown was supportive of congestion charging in Auckland because "anything that's free gets overused quickly".

He could not say what routes might be charged, or when.

Overall he felt "quite positive" about the commission's report.

"It sounds like someone's listening to me, I've been banging on about infrastructure," he said.

"We don't concentrate enough on what the costs of it are, we blather on about world class, what we need is good economic functions that suit for New Zealand ... it has to be reliable and sensible and affordable."

Too many projects were there as a bid for votes, rather than solving a problem, he said.

Greater Auckland editor Matt Lowrie had told Morning Report that the estimated revenue from the toll is between $7 and $9 billion, while the projected costs of the crossing could exceed $20b.

He said while a second crossing is needed to provide more capacity, other payment options could be considered.

Lowrie agreed that tolling both crossings was necessary because just tolling the new one meant people would simply continue using the existing bridge, however he suggested a lower toll be implemented to see the impact of it.

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