He's 'wrong”, and Transport Minister Phil Twyford has told Scott Simpson so.

Speaking to The Weekend Sun, Phil says Coromandel National MP was 'wrong” to suggest National had committed to start building the Katikati bypass this year.

'It was just an election pledge,” says the Transport Minister. 'It was not a funded policy.”

All of which suggests it was never likely to happen this year.

Phil was responding to a story in The Weekend Sun last week, in which it was revealed that the bypass was not considered an investment priority for the 2018-21 national land transport programme. Construction, if required, will be after 2028.

Scott Simpson called the revelations 'outrageous”. 'Katikati deserved to feel really hurt by the news,” he says, after revealing he had worked long and hard to get a firm commitment from the last National government and that a Katikati bypass would be built - and built quickly.

'For the new government to renege on that is shameful,” he says, implying that the decision will almost certainly have come 'as a result of political direction from the government”.

He also claims it speaks 'volumes” about the coalition government's priorities, and points to trams on Auckland's Dominion Road and trains to Auckland Airport as examples.

However, the Transport Minister says operational decisions regarding the Waihi to Tauranga corridor, including Katikati, are made at an arms' length by the NZTA board, based on the government's priorities of making transport safer, accessible and affordable, ensuring value for money and reducing emissions.

'I am advised the Katikati bypass remains a future option,” says Phil. 'However, NZTA is prioritising urgent safety work to save lives and reduce serious injuries.

The Minister says NZTA has advised him it will pursue other options to improve livability and manage state highway traffic through Katikati.