Baldock Larry: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
Baldock Larry: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement 
[Volume:606;Page:3362] 
LARRY BALDOCK (United Future) 
: 
 One paragraph of the Prime Minister’s speech addresses issues regarding health funding for district health boards. I know that areas like the Western Bay of Plenty with a higher percentage of senior citizens and Maori will certainly welcome the population-based funding that will enable these boards to better address the needs of their communities and address a long-overdue inequity they have faced. However I am still not sure that the Government really understands that across the nation people are now not only concerned about queuing for access to public hospitals but also the queuing they do in their cars on the congested highways in the major cities of our nation. I am not sure whether the Government yet realises how serious this situation is. We saw the recent release of Transit’s 10-year funding proposal and I commend the Government for bringing this transparency about. Now there is some better understanding of where communities are in the queue for their roading infrastructure requests but this release has revealed how long some communities will have to wait. 
The response of the communities has been one of shock or we could call it road rage of a different kind. I take heart from the Prime Minister’s comments that the Government is committed to increasing spending on roading and I look forward to the Budget announcements later this year to underscore these statements. We will work hard in United Future to provide additional solutions to the needs caused by the long-term underfunding of our roading network by way of the Land Transport Management Bill but these alternatives will not be enough on their own. When the Prime Minister says: “Auckland’s transport needs are getting long-overdue attention to relieve the congestion there which impacts adversely on the whole economy.” I trust that the Prime Minister is not overlooking areas like Tauranga which face similar problems to Auckland to a large extent caused by the very successful operation and expansion of the Port of Tauranga. By handling 34 percent of the country’s exports this port has earned the reputation for being a vital component of this country’s economy. I trust that the people of Tauranga will hear further good news after the Minister of Transport visits Tauranga City later this week to acquaint himself first hand with the need for a commitment from the Government to a city that has courageously developed solutions to the stress placed on its roading infrastructure by massive growth over the past 50 years.  
New Zealand’s population has doubled in the last 50 years and is projected to increase by less than 50 percent in the next 50 years to peak at around 4.8 million in 2046. By contrast Tauranga City has doubled in population in the last 25 years is projected to double again in the next 20 years and to treble by 2046. These amazing figures may have to be revised even more upward after the very successful staging of the Around Alone yacht race stopover at the city over the summer and the wide international media coverage that the city has enjoyed. There is no doubt that tourism has provided a huge boost to the nation’s economy and this is the case in the Tauranga region also. We have benefited from unprecedented good fortune and international exposure. But we can be sure of something: that if more and more of our visitors have their first experience of our beautiful country with the congested roads of Auckland Tauranga or Wellington or they must continue to drive long distances on our State highways which in other nations would be called secondary roads then we may see that this romance with our nation becomes rather short-lived.  
In Tauranga the regional economic development agency Priority One is beginning to receive many more requests for information from successful businesses that are very interested in relocating to the Bay of Plenty. I am sure this is happening in other parts of the country as well. To attract them we must have a business-friendly environment. The passing of the Resource Management Amendment Bill is crucial to the ongoing process of refining the Act and establishing legislation that finds the balance between good environmental management and a regulatory environment that does not discourage innovation and investment. United Future is committed to seeing that amendment go through this House in the very near future.  
With the challenges facing our energy needs with the early expiry of the Maui gasfields and the roading bottlenecks we will want to pursue further amendments to the Resource Management Act that allow for the fast tracking of significant projects of national importance straight to the Environment Court.  
Finally I welcome the establishment of the Families Commission which will be able to give a focus for real concrete policies that will help the families of New Zealand.