Brown Peter: Rail Network Bill — First Reading 
Brown Peter: Rail Network Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:625;Page:19772] 
PETER BROWN (Deputy Leader—NZ First) 
: 
 There was a time not long ago possibly 10 years ago when we heard that the railways were to be ultra-modern that they were to go into private hands and that they were to be a world example. I think they were set up for sale by the Labour Government of course. I think Richard Prebble as Minister of Transport had set them all up some years before and when National came to power in the 1990s—[ 
Interruption 
] The member says we would not have a railway. Let me just say that the year after Richard Prebble set it up the railways made a profit for the first time ever. Up until that time the taxpayer carried the whole thing paid for the redundancies and what have you. 
Then the Government—and I am sure the member will correct me if I am wrong—employed a couple of consultants from Fay Richwhite to arrange the sale. A few weeks before the sale they sort of jumped ship and became part of the purchasing team. As a result I think that organisation made a lot of money out of New Zealand Rail. 
Dail Jones 
: $300 million. 
PETER BROWN 
: It made $300 million. What did the country get? It got a rather run-down railway track and railway service to be honest. And only a year or so ago this Government was forced to purchase the network back—a network that was in a dilapidated state in many many areas. 
In Tauranga I was invited out by some concerned residents who asked me to look at a railway track and see what was holding it in the ground. I went there and I found that it was literally easier to pick the bolts out than to pull pins out of a pincushion—and it was not just one bolt; there were quite a few. 
Hon Maurice Williamson 
: So what did the member do about it? 
PETER BROWN 
: The member rang the honourable Minister Harry Duynhoven who I know likes to get his hands dirty and is not afraid to get some action around the place. After that meeting with the residents and seeing the state of the track I had gone home thinking that I now had to do something about the situation because if anything were to go off the rails that night it would be on my conscience. That railway track runs along an embankment between rows of housing so if something went over it would go right into a house—and God knows what would have happened. 
Hon Maurice Williamson 
: What did Harry do? 
PETER BROWN 
: Harry Duynhoven got straight on to the case. He went up in my esteem enormously. There was no mucking around. He got straight on to it. I understand that he had quite some debate to get action. But fair go he did get some work done on that railway track in rapid order. 
Having said all of that I have to say that our railway tracks need a fair amount of money put into them and I hope the Government is aware of that. I think it is programming $200 million but that is not enough. I do not believe it will be enough. I think it is programming $200 million over 5 years and I do not believe that will be enough. 
Hon Harry Duynhoven 
: We’ve already put $80 million into it. 
PETER BROWN 
: I say to the honourable Minister that I think he has to have a good deal more money than he has probably budgeted for. This country needs an efficient railway service because it is long skinny country separated by Cook Strait and the railway could play a very important part in our economic well-being. I am not only talking about it carrying passengers. It is obviously important in areas like Wellington and Auckland that it does carry passengers but it is also an ideal system for carrying long-haul freight. To my mind and to the minds of my colleagues it is essential that we get the railway system built up to the appropriate standard in short order. 
New Zealand First has always believed that this country would be better served if the tracks were owned by the taxpayer and we allowed operators to operate on the tracks—exactly as the roading system works. We have advocated that for many a year and we are very very pleased that the Government has picked up that idea. 
Hon Harry Duynhoven 
: Probably Duynhoven’s policy. 
PETER BROWN 
: I have given the Minister enough credit for one day. I think I am going to claim a little bit for my colleagues here. New Zealand First has advocated that the tracks should be owned by the taxpayer and that the operators who use the tracks should pay rail-user charges in exactly the same way as trucking companies pay for using the roads. I do not think I need to express any more concerns about that except—[ 
Interruption 
] The Minister Pete Hodgson who is on his feet is a little bit premature. 
I want to know why this bill is being sent to the Government Administration Committee. We have in the Hon Mark Gosche a very competent chairman of the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee. He is well-served by the members on that committee and they are very keen about transport matters. The Minister in sending this bill to the Government Administration Committee is doing a disservice to the transport-minded people who work so diligently on the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee. 
Dail Jones 
: They want it back by June. 
PETER BROWN 
: Then the Minister had better send it to the professionals to the guys who really have their finger on the button and not to the Government Administration Committee. With due respect to the members on that committee when it comes to trains I do not think they would know the front end of a train from the back of a bus. 
Jill Pettis 
: That’s a patronising comment! 
PETER BROWN 
: I think I have my answer and I will quit while I am ahead. But I ask the Minister to rethink which committee he sends the bill to and send it to the correct one.