Young JonathanJONATHAN YOUNG (National—New Plymouth): Thank you sir. Thank you very much for that speech Shane Jones which I think was designed to curtail our criticism of this bill. Can I say that I do support my colleague's comments about taxation and the balance that we have around taxation because this is a fuel excise tax. This is a tax that is coming out of the pockets of motorists to the tune of approximately $300 or $350 a year if somebody is travelling perhaps 15000 kilometres as they do in regional New Zealand. Can I say that taxation without representation the full terminology around that is tyranny and in this case it is taxation without compensation—that is the benefit to the motorists—because they are the ones who are paying this $300 a year for benefits—Kiritapu Allan: How much did National put it up? Was it 26c?JONATHAN YOUNG: We put it up 24c over nine years. You're putting it up 24c within two years—within two years. So can I say that this is taxation without compensation without designation of those funds to go back into those regions which is the principle behind hypothecation of transport funds whether they are road-user charges or excise taxes. They are designed and determined to bring expenditure back into those areas where that money was raised from in order to maintain the quality of transport networks that we have. Now what we continue to receive are messages whereby we should feel guilty because we drive a car and don't jump on to the nearest bus or train. Look I just want to say that not every regional town or village or city has an adequate public transport network and I do not think that this excise tax is going to do anything for most of New Zealand.We understand and we feel that by the Government policy statement there is going to be a significant concentration of investment into Auckland's public transport and there's not a willingness to reduce congestion except to get people out of their cars. I think that my colleague Paul Goldsmith who talked about picking up his daughter from a netball practice in the evening on a dark night—perhaps even on wet windy winter's night—is going to use his car instead of asking her to jump on a bus. And I think that parents all over the country would see sense in that.There are times when I hop in my vehicle my car and I think Could I do this journey on public transport as busy as we are as MPs?" I ask that question because there is this willingness by the general public to think of different modes of transport and most times I come to the conclusion that I couldn't do it. I couldn't jump on a bus and go out to Airport Drive to pick up my dog who's been at a kennel for socialisation for a day. I couldn't do that. I couldn't jump on a bus and go and visit a business somewhere—and I could never find a train—and I couldn't jump on a bus to go and visit a school without losing many hours out of my hard working day.I think many New Zealanders face this—they face the pressure of transportation. Everybody is time-poor. This is why personal vehicles continue to be very popular and used in our society. It's because we live in a long country we are sparsely populated and we cannot afford huge amounts for public transport that comes regularly and goes door to door. None of them go door to door. Do you think a business would not use the rail network if it could go door to door and be cheaper than a truck? Of course they would but it's not—and those businesses need to pay their bills. They take options that work best for them in terms of being able to supply their goods to market. Until this country or KiwiRail can come up with a solution that is going to be competitive—and more competitive than other options—New Zealanders will continue to make those choices and that's what we face.As somebody who owns a couple of bicycles—most of the time they are beautiful homes for a family of spiders—in the summer I get out there on our walkway and in our environs in New Plymouth and enjoy it and there still is the incredible need and necessity for us to be able to transport ourselves and do whatever we have to do in ways that work for our lives. That is the issue and what we are objecting to that we are paying a tax particularly in regional New Zealand for purposes that don't work for our lives. They may work for Aucklanders who live down Dominion Road. They might work for other people who live in metropolitan centres but what we want to have is the compensation for our taxation that's going to continue to make our roads safe and easy to use and get us to where we need to get in wonderful and easy ways. I do see the first citizen of the regions in the House tonight and I am sure that he will stick up for regional New Zealand and say that what I am saying has some truth to it.What I would like to see from the funding that this bill engenders from the $300 million a year extra that's going to come in is regional New Zealand's transport networks continuing to be improved and upheld and that we would have safer roads. I don't agree that safer roads is simply putting wire strip down the middle because we know that if you're a motorcyclist that's the most dangerous thing you can have on that road. They call it the cheese-cutter for a very good reason and I just think that what we need is investment in our roads our contours our curves our berms our markings and our signage—all of these things that will make our roads continually safer. I believe very much that the gold standard of roads throughout Europe is double-laning each way. It's four-laning and the propensity of accidents is far lower than what we face here in New Zealand. One of the reasons I think after my visit to Ireland a few years ago why they appreciate being part of the European Union is because the quality of roads they had to build in order to maintain the standard of roads that the European Union expect of their members.This is something that I think in terms of the network we have in New Zealand we should continue to build. You might call them roads of national significance; they are roads that all New Zealanders can drive most safely on. Those roads of national significance I understand for very very many years had no fatalities. I think there was one recently and it was not because of the quality of the road. So what we understand is that when you build good roads you create safe transportation.The reality is that there are many modes of transport on a road. A lot of people travel in buses. Well that's a good thing but you still need good roads. Once again coming back to the point as a regional MP I would like to know that when I pay my increased excise tax I am going to get benefit in my region and I think the people of Taranaki would feel the same. We grumble quite often about different parts. We live in a very rainy part of the country. We live in very challenging topography like those who live in Gisborne and the East Cape area. They face challenging topography. We do not want to be ignored because a slow tram's going to go down Dominion Road and it's going to cost billions of dollars. We do not want to have our roads deteriorate and no longer be safe. We want our roads to have the investment that comes from our pockets which we pay every time we go to the petrol station. I think that is what New Zealanders expect and I believe that it's our right to expect that as well. Thank you Mr Speaker."