Paul Foster-Bell's Captain Cook plan mocked in Parliament

  • 28/06/2016
Paul Foster-Bell's Captain Cook plan mocked in Parliament

The mickey is being taken out of the Government over a proposal by one of its MPs to rename State Highway 1 the 'Captain Cook Highway'.

Under-fire backbench MP Paul Foster Bell is behind the idea, after being lobbied by a wealthy National Party donor who's part of the Captain Cook Society.

Green MP Julie Anne Genter used the re-branding kerfuffle to target Transport Minister Simon Bridges on his reluctance to build a rail link from Auckland city to the airport.

"Would his government consider making a rail link to the airport a priority if it was named after Captain Cook?" she asked.

Mr Foster-Bell burst into laughter at the question, which Mr Bridges brushed off as "stupid".

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