Lees-Galloway Iain: General Debate 
Lees-Galloway Iain: General Debate 
[Volume:676;Page:21738] 
IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY (Labour—Palmerston North) 
: 
 It is a little bit ironic hearing from Paul Quinn about list spots. “Mr 58” is so respected by his own colleagues that he is dead last on their list of MPs. 
I want to talk about a serious issue rather than talk about polls signs and list spots. The major arterial road that links Manawatu to Hawke’s Bay and the Wairarapa is the Manawatu Gorge. Since 18 August that road has been closed due to a series of slips that have continually piled more and more rocks debris and mess upon the narrow winding two-lane road that traverses Te Apiti. Yesterday we heard the news that the road is expected to be closed for at least another 2 months. That is close to 4 months that Palmerston North and the Manawatu will have gone without a primary transport link to the east. 
That is bad enough but even more disheartening is the knowledge that once the clean-up is completed further closures both of the minor and regular nature that we have become accustomed to and on the massive scale of the current closure are inevitable. With the exception of 2 days of snow which managed to find its way even into the city centre the weather events that have precipitated these slips have not been remarkable. It is simply the nature of the terrain and the road that without substantial investment the continual closure of that most important piece of transport infrastructure is unavoidable. 
One of Palmerston North’s strengths one of our comparative advantages is its central location in the lower North Island. Because of its geographic location businesses such as Foodstuffs Progressive Enterprises EziBuy and service providers such as Enable New Zealand have located their distribution centres in the city. Palmerston North has a growing reputation as an important distribution hub for the lower North Island being easier to access than Wellington and within short travelling times of both coasts the capital city and north beyond Taupo. Our central location also makes us the perfect place to host sports events and conferences. We have successfully bid for or created a number of cycling events even though our bid to be the home of the cycling centre of excellence was unsuccessful. 
Economic development in the Manawatu is dependent on quality transport infrastructure. The ability of our region to play to the strengths our location gives us is heavily reliant on central government playing its part. Central government is not playing its part. Steven Joyce’s roads of national significance policy means that we in the provinces are totally overlooked. It is all about the urban centres and it is all about roads. Regions and rail do not get a look-in. While the Minister is busy building his holiday highways in the north the Manawatu Gorge remains closed. The Manawatu-Wanganui region has about 10 percent of New Zealand’s roads but we get just 3 percent of the funding. That simply is not good enough. 
There is no easy solution to the Manawatu Gorge problem. Building a tunnel or a suspension bridge are gold-plated options that have been considered in the past and they have been passed over. It is possible though that the solution lies in upgrading both the Pahiatua Track and the Saddle Road both of which are struggling under the weight of the additional volumes of traffic which are now at such levels that travelling on both of those roads is incredibly dangerous. The Tararua District Council spent $1 million just trying to convince Steven Joyce to take exactly that action. The mayor said at the time that after submitting that proposal she felt completely fobbed off. 
Speaking of money spent clearing the road is conservatively expected to cost well in excess of $1 million and Palmerston North is losing $60000 a day in lost economic activity and lost productivity. Investing in transport infrastructure for the Manawatu would help avoid these ongoing costs. Investing in transport infrastructure for the Manawatu would help the city of Palmerston North play to its strengths and help grow our region’s economy. But National has tunnel vision. Under its policy provincial transport is neither significant nor a priority. We need to change those priorities. The only way to change those priorities is to change the Government and the only way to change the Government is to vote Labour on 26 November.