Bennett David: Land Transport Management Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Bennett David: Land Transport Management Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 11 September 2012. Volume:683;Page:5104. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
DAVID BENNETT (National—Hamilton East) 
: 
 First before I talk too much about the Land Transport Management Amendment Bill I just want to say that a lot of the information that that last member Phil Twyford said was simply incorrect. There has been an increase in maintenance funding and many of our transport networks are doing well because of the investment this Government has made into transport. I would like to commend our Minister of Transport for the hard work that he is doing following on from the good work the Hon Steven Joyce did in this area in setting up a very strong network for New Zealanders in transport going forward. 
I want to take just one example and we can use this example to look at the arguments put forward by the Opposition here. Let us have a look at the Waikato Expressway. The Waikato Expressway is the best thing that has happened to the most productive region in New Zealand and that is something that this Government should be very proud of. It took 30 years—a generation of advocacy—to get that road. This Government is building it and we are building it on time and within budget and that it good for the people of the Waikato. 
I want to see those Opposition parties come to Hamilton and say what they say in this House to the good people of Hamilton because we know what this road means. I will tell you what this road means. What is the biggest asset that Hamilton has? The biggest asset is our proximity to Auckland. That is our biggest asset. What does this road do? It makes us closer to Auckland. It links us to the fastest-growing city in New Zealand. That is what it does. What else does that mean? That means that Hamilton can be a hub for services in the north half of the North Island. You see the investment in the hospital you see broadband you see the work at the university. All those things are leading to jobs and they are leading to a future for the people of Hamilton and they are dependent on that road. 
That road is crucial for the growth of our city going forward. We will fight in this House and we will fight in election campaigns and we have fought in election campaigns and beaten the Labour Party in Hamilton on that issue. The Labour Party has come to Hamilton and said: “No we’ll give you a train to Auckland instead of an expressway.” 
Hon Gerry Brownlee 
: What? 
DAVID BENNETT 
: A train to Auckland. An expressway worth $2.4 billion or a train worth $2 million—go figure what the people of Hamilton decided to choose. They want the expressway because they know what it means. We hear the Labour Party and you will get it from the Greens next saying that there is this utopia of public transport that will solve all our issues around transport: “Don’t worry about the costs of it; we do not need to work out the costs around public transport. We don’t need to work out what the subsidies actually will be around public transport because we say it is public transport. It works it’s cheaper it’s greener it’s better.” That is rubbish and we look forward to hearing that from the Green and Labour Party members as we go through. 
I will tell you about the train to Auckland—the train to Auckland that the Labour Party wanted and the Greens would love. They put it on during the Rugby World Cup and guess how many people went on that train at a time when it had an event—you know people were travelling from Auckland to the rugby in Hamilton. 
Hon Members 
: How many? 
DAVID BENNETT 
: Nine people! Nine people went on a train—nine people. The better part of this is that this train is going to have a subsidy of $15000 per commuter per year. So 90 people go on this train apparently—that was about all it could carry—and it would have a $15000 subsidy for each of those people. New Zealanders would be paying $15000 for 90 people’s travel plans for the year. That is a great deal! It is a great deal! That is the Labour Party. That is the Green Party. That is the reality of public transport. When you put it on how many people went on it? 
Chris Auchinvole 
: How many? 
DAVID BENNETT 
: Nine—nine people went on it. That is the reality of public transport. That is the reality of what the Greens and the Labour Party will talk about. 
But let us have a look at what Hamiltonians actually want. They want growth they want jobs they want a future and they want direction and what are we giving them? The road to give them that. They are getting the link to Auckland and they are getting the link to their economic prosperity. The Labour Party is very quiet now because it cannot win a seat in Hamilton and it knows it cannot. The reason it cannot is that we are delivering for that city when the Labour Party did not and never will. If you do not win Hamilton you do not win Government. That is how simple it is in politics. We are delivering for that city as we are throughout New Zealand. 
This is a good bill and I implore anybody who has any problem with that to come to Hamilton and see the reality of what this bill means. For the productive heartland of New Zealand the future economic base of this country you need to invest in infrastructure this Parliament needs to invest in infrastructure—and this Government has invested in infrastructure. It is delivering and you can see the results. So come to Hamilton. We welcome you there.