Sabin Mike: Estimates Debate — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeSabin Mike: Estimates Debate — In Committee[Sitting date: 01 July 2014. Volume:700;Page:19066. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]MIKE SABIN (National—Northland):I am very pleased to take a call in this particular debate on Vote Transport. I wonder whether the member Julie Anne Genter can explain to the children in Te Kao how they will make it to school in Kaitāia. It is about a 1-hour one-way trip. So what are we going to do with them? I would hazard a guess that if the member actually went—I do not know—outside the city she might find that the rest of New Zealand has a contrary view about what is important in terms of roading infrastructure. This Government actually understands that and that is why this Government has made a substantial and significant contribution to roading and transport throughout its entire term.Another point that was raised by the Green speaker was the fact that there is less revenue being gathered in terms of petrol excise and so on and so forth. There are a number of reasons for that of course and a couple of good ones are that this Government has invested in substantial improvements in roads and therefore the roads are improved and fuel efficiencies are established as a result of that. So what we are also seeing is the benefit of the very thing that the Greens would knock back—that there is greater efficiency in the roading network. After decades of underspend what we are now doing is actually catching up on a lot of that.A good example of how successful this Government’s approach has been is the very area that the Opposition members like to beat up against and that is the regions. They are saying: “Oh the regions have been left out. They’ve been forgotten.” Well I will speak to you from a region that is growing at 7.4 percent year-on-year growth from a region that has had six successive quarters—and thank you Mr Mitchell from Rodney my partnering MP. He is just south of me—“South Northland” I like to sometimes refer to it as. There are six successive quarters of growth. We have business confidence up and unemployment down. Although Hone and “Sideshow Bob” up there are sort of—The CHAIRPERSON (H V Ross Robertson): Order! The member must use a member’s full name or title not just their first name.MIKE SABIN: Certainly Mr Chairman. Hone Harawira from the Mana—well I am not sure whether it is the Mana-Internet-German party. I am not sure what it is called. Anyway that is the sideshow that is the far north. The fact is that people like them will stand up there and protest against the idea of—I do not know—the gas and oil exploration and the billions of dollars of revenue that will make its way into New Zealand into the community as a result of that. But although they will stand there and vote against every initiative of this Government that looks to grow the economy to invest in roading infrastructure to invest in ultra-fast broadband and to invest in the things that make an economy worth engaging in and worth investing in from a business perspective this Government is getting on with business.Let us just have a look at what that looks like in terms of Northland. We have a primary growth initiative under way. We have a regional growth study under way. We have that gas and oil exploration but also we have onshore mineral exploration under way. We have a Primary Growth Partnership in avocadoes in the far north looking to quadruple returns in that particular area and an aquaculture strategy that will see $300 million added to the New Zealand economy and 700 jobs in the region over the next 10 to 15 years. We are working on the Te Ture Whenua Maori Act / Maori Land Act to ensure that the productivity of that land can be better realised to return productivity and jobs to those who most need it in these more vulnerable communities.Look at the work that is going on with Treaty settlements. This Government has actually got on with the job that the former Labour Government spent about 9 years talking about and doing not much with.Dr David Clark: Oh all that member’s own work—all that member’s own work.MIKE SABIN: Well if the member David Clark would like to come to the far north I would be very very pleased to host him in the far north. Perhaps we could go around and have a talk to a few of those—what spokesmanship does he have? He has small business or something does he not? Actually that would be a great area. Let us book that in. Let us make that a bit of a bromance date sort of situation there Mr Clark. Come on up and see what is happening at the other end of the country where of course the sun shines for about 18 hours of the day. I would be pleased to host the member.But in all seriousness in the draft Government policy statement that was recently announced we are looking at $360 million of additional contestable funding $212 million going into 14 specific projects and almost $1 billion a year of investment in regional roads. That is a substantial investment and the Pūhoi to Wellsford motorway the fast tracking of that has said to everyone in Northland that Labour and the Greens would get rid of it but that this Government believes in Northland and believes in the economy and invests in it and continues to invest in it.