Bridges SimonHon SIMON BRIDGES (Minister of Energy and Resources): It is great to take a call. Was that not a pessimistic speech that we just heard? I do not blame the member Fletcher Tabuteau but you know there are so many good things going on in science and innovation and infrastructure. In terms of the things that we are talking about here there is so much to be excited about—Hon David Cunliffe: Yeah just keep messaging until reality bites you.Hon SIMON BRIDGES: —in this great little country of New Zealand that it makes you want to shave your beard off Mr Cunliffe. So Mr Cunliffe I am really excited that we are part of a Government and that I am part of a Government of infrastructure. When you think about it people do not take infrastructure for granted when it is going well as it is in New Zealand and we are a party of infrastructure that is making a really significant difference.I am of course the energy Minister and when you think about energy and the issues on which all of the international experts judge a country—whether it is competition reliability sustainability—we have a remarkable success story in New Zealand. On competition it has never been more competitive than we see today. We have the companies fighting it out hammer and tong in electricity—offerings of $250 and sometimes more than that for switch-overs. They are the kinds of incentives we have never seen before and for the first time actually—since 2001 I think it might have been—the power prices went down. I am really proud of that. I think it is because we set up an electricity authority that has got in has taken competition seriously—What's My Number is one that many will be aware of and there are many other initiatives making a real difference here.Reliability: the reliability of the supply—when Mr Cunliffe was in Government every couple of years there was a blackout a brownout or a serious threat of that. I was still at school that is true but there were blackouts brownouts and threats of them and rationing every couple of years. There has not been one since this party has been in Government. The reason for that is we have got the incentives in place we have got the competition in place and we have fixed the system. New Zealanders can be really proud of that.Of course we still do have issues and they are not man-made or human-made if you like; they are God-made. We look at what is happening around Taupō right now and so on where the power is out and Unison—I want to thank the people involved in that—is working really hard in the snow and in quite difficult weather conditions to get it back on. But in terms of the things we can control it has never been more reliable in New Zealand.Sustainability: when we came into Government—this is the bit the Greens hate to hear—65 percent of our electricity came from renewables; today it is well over 80 percent. That has been because again the market incentives have got things right. We are a party that recognises the fantastic renewable advantage that this country has and we are playing to our strengths. We see solar rates going up exponentially in New Zealand despite the scaremongering campaigns we see from the likes of the Greens and Greenpeace. Under the model that we have at the moment we see batteries starting to be taken up. It has been great to be involved in a number of launches around batteries both in the actual commercial grid down to the great lines company Alpine Energy in the South Island looking at the biggest—Hon David Cunliffe: Where in the South Island?Hon SIMON BRIDGES: —grid-scale battery—Timaru; I think the member was born there was he not—in the southern hemisphere I think through to the kinds of home-style ones we see Tesla doing with Vector.Electric vehicles: we have heard a bit about them but the numbers again are growing exponentially so that we are well on the way to meeting this year's target. They will keep going up and up and I am looking forward to having more announcements later this year in relation to electric vehicles as we roll out that strong package which is making a difference in that area. In transport again it is a story that is stronger than perhaps it has ever been. We are investing in the right areas but in all areas in fact in the transport area.Hon David Cunliffe: Have you been to Auckland lately? Hon SIMON BRIDGES: I will get to that. We are investing more than ever before—$14 billion of investment over a 3-year period. Mr Cunliffe mentions Auckland. We are investing over a billion dollars a year in Auckland. That is more than was spent 10 to 15 years ago in the early 2000s across the entire country. Whereas the projects when Mr Cunliffe was in Government were $100 million or $200 million right at the moment we have the western ring route nearing completion—Hon David Cunliffe: With no bus lane. Where is the bus lane?Hon SIMON BRIDGES: —the biggest transport project ever in New Zealand. Auckland Manukau Eastern Transport Initiative is working through it with a fantastic bussing network Mr Cunliffe. The East-West Link which the Greens oppose is a critical project to the biggest industrial hub in New Zealand—from $1.25 to $1.85 billion. It is going to be a game-changer out there. The City Rail Link—the biggest most complex project ever—has started and the Government is ensuring it is a success. Pūhoi to Warkworth—the point is this: there are multiple multibillion-dollar projects that are making this country move.It is not only roading. A critique that we get from the lot over the other side is that that is all there is. Actually in rail we have invested under this Government $4.2 billion and that is making a significant difference. I actually think in terms of KiwiRail that although it is a business that is subsidised it has got a bright future. Rail has a bright future as a result of what we are doing right now. Regarding passengers—because members over the other side mentioned this—we have seen metropolitan passengers go from 2.5 million in the early 2000s to over 16 million. Those numbers will only increase as we invest more in the networks in places like Auckland and Wellington. In freighting: it was great earlier last week to be in Masterton where KiwiRail—and we are seeing a lot of this around the country with CentrePort in this case—just out of Masterton has a logging hub. The logging is coming together up on to those trains and going through to the port.We are seeing bigger ships—we are seeing later this year the biggest freighting ships we will have ever seen in New Zealand come into Tauranga—as other ports also deepen their harbours as we see that more intensified freight and as we see these inland hubs again where the freight is coming in. Rail if it plays to its strengths has a strong future. We will always need the trucks because they are important in getting those local goods around and for a number of the jobs that trains cannot do. We have a truly integrated system and we have the New Zealand Transport Agency with KiwiRail working really hard on that.Of course there are many more areas that are receiving unprecedented investment under this Government. In public transport: there is $2 billion going into that. It is not a financial issue but I have been really proud of some simple changes that we made to allow for the heavier buses. Now in Auckland as a result of those changes that Craig Foss and I made there are double-deckers all over Auckland. When I am seeing them they are full with passengers getting around that city and that is a great change that is being made.Hon David Cunliffe: It's because they can't drive on the roads because of the gridlock you nana.Hon SIMON BRIDGES: Cycleways—you nana".Hon David Cunliffe: You nana—it's the technical term.Hon SIMON BRIDGES: The level of debate in this Chamber: "you nana".Cycleways—you cannot travel by nanas Mr Cunliffe.Hon David Cunliffe: Aucklanders will try anything because they can't use their cars. They'd go faster on a banana.Hon SIMON BRIDGES: There is $333 million a real step change in funding so that we are seeing urban cycleways pop up—not like bananas Mr Cunliffe—in every urban centre with over 30000 people with the exception of Invercargill. They are making a significant difference in terms of safety in terms of environment and in terms of health benefits. It was a great pleasure—not in my electorate but in the electorate of Todd Muller actually—to see a $7 million or $8 million cycleway from Ōmokoroa into Tauranga. It is going to be a stunning success from a health perspective environmental perspective safety perspective and commuting perspective but also from a tourism perspective so I am really proud of that. What a difference in infrastructure this Government is making for New Zealand."