SpeechHon DAVID BENNETT (National): I thought you were going to say Penk" there for a second Madam Speaker. Jeez! ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jenny Salesa): Sorry about that—the Hon David Bennett. Hon DAVID BENNETT: I know he's very rosy but there's a difference! But thank you very much Madam Speaker. First of all I'd like to also acknowledge those people that are in the regions. Our coastal regions have really done it tough in the last few weeks and months with the weather conditions. What they've had to deal with has been tremendously difficult and we don't understand that as much as they will not being there and being part of it. But we think of them and I'd just like to thank the Government for what they've done so far in the gestures of infrastructure to make sure that they've got some support there. Also it's unfortunate that the new Prime Minister and deputy aren't here this is my first speech in the House since they've been given the roles so I'd just like to congratulate them on their roles and wish them all the best and—[Interruption] I know. It's a new leaf but anyway—but it's not going to last. Hon Willie Jackson: Sit down now. Hon DAVID BENNETT: Willie I'll come back to you mate. But no well done to them and congratulations. It's an honour for anyone to be in those roles so that's great. But to this bill here you know when we look at the transport sector in New Zealand it's a really important sector when we consider what's actually going on in our coastal regions at the moment. One of the big things we're finding is that our infrastructure has been devastated by those natural disasters and one way or the other we have to deal with that. There's going to be the replacement of certain bridges there'll be the replacement of certain roads and there will be new roads that will be built. But fundamentally New Zealand needs to look at its infrastructure in total and the whole point of why we have road-user charges and the whole point of why we have excise tax is to enable the country to build the right infrastructure especially our roading and rail networks which actually enable New Zealand to function. I just want to take one example and look at that for a moment and that is north of Auckland to Whangārei. That road has been out of order since the first rains that we had. It is just not acceptable that one of our biggest cities—Whangārei—is effectively isolated from Auckland when it's not that far away. There have been plans to build a four-lane road from Auckland to Whangārei for generations and they have been debated in and out of this House and we don't do it. Like my political career has been staked on getting the road from Hamilton to Auckland and we did get it but the next stage is actually Auckland to Whangārei. That's an important stage like it is from Hamilton to Tauranga. If we don't have that key infrastructure we abandon those cities and those communities. At the moment people are having to take a coastal route going around through small towns like Waipū and Mangawhai to get back to Auckland. Hon Willie Jackson: And whose fault is that? Hon DAVID BENNETT: The fault is the Labour Party's which cancelled the roads of national significance because the roads of national significance would have created that four-laning to Whangārei and that is the fault of Willie Jackson and his team. So when he says "Whose fault is that?" it's directly that Government's. They have taken money out of building roading infrastructure. They do not believe in roads. The Green Party will say it honestly and objectively and the Labour Party will do it. They have taken money out to put in their pet rail projects in Auckland City. They have not delivered for New Zealand's infrastructure when they had the point and the chance to do so. I know we have to rebuild in certain places but we also need to futureproof our infrastructure and the Labour Party failed in the last five years. It cancelled the infrastructure that would have saved places like Whangārei from what they're going through now. It cancelled the Cambridge extension to Piarere. It cancelled those northern roads in Tauranga. It cancelled the roads that would have been vital for our coastal cities and growth. ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jenny Salesa): If the member would like to come back to this bill thank you. Hon DAVID BENNETT: Well the bill—ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jenny Salesa): Yes. Hon DAVID BENNETT: —is about the road-user charges and excise taxes—ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jenny Salesa): Yes yes—discuss that. Hon DAVID BENNETT: —and the whole point of those is to build infrastructure. That's what you do with the roading. It's not there to spend on consultants. It's not there to think about what could be a greater vision for a New Zealand that doesn't have cars. That's what the Labour Party and the Greens have used the transport budget for. They've politicised Waka Kotahi they've taken it away from doing the structural developments that are needed for the infrastructure of New Zealand and that has been the crisis that we are seeing now today. There's always going to be natural disasters. There's always going to be things we have to rebuild. But we could have made sure that the people of Whangārei were actually given the ability to link in to Auckland if we'd built that road. That's the opportunity that's in front of the National Party when they get in at the end of the year: to bring back the roads of national significance and to bring back that infrastructure that actually stabilises our economy in some of the most vulnerable parts of the country. Another example is from Napier to Hastings. For so long those communities have only asked for a decent roading network between those cities and for so long this House has said no. If we had given them an infrastructure there that would actually have helped them no doubt in these kinds of situations. There's the connections between the Waikato and the Hawke's Bay for example. That's an arterial route that is vital for this country. All that Government could do was reduce the speed limit to 80 kilometres on it. It couldn't get to the position where it invested in the infrastructure of that road; it just wanted to slow it down. Now that road is one of the ones that has been affected by the cyclone and other events. So this bill is a symptom of a Government that has failed on infrastructure. It's a Government—Hon Willie Jackson: You won't be supporting it then will you? Hon DAVID BENNETT: No I am going to support it. Hon Willie Jackson: Oh I thought you weren't going to support it. Hon DAVID BENNETT: Yeah and the reason I'm supporting it is because—actually this is the second thing I was going to get on to. It's actually good for New Zealand in the sense that when the productive part of New Zealand finally gets some money out of this place—because all this Government does is spend money on social spending—at some point the productive sector of New Zealand is actually going to get their taxes back through some money being spent on infrastructure. Well they're not going to get their taxes back; they're going to get the borrowing that the Government has made in actual infrastructure. The rest of the time the Government borrows just for social spending. We don't actually invest in the infrastructure of New Zealand and the country suffers as a result. So at least—at least—this is actually going to help the builders plumbers farmers and family people out there that actually can use the roading network because at least it's an investment in infrastructure even if the Government is borrowing for it. ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jenny Salesa): The member has got two minutes to come back to the road-user charges amendment bill. Hon DAVID BENNETT: OK Madam Speaker. This bill is a demonstration of a missed opportunity for infrastructure in New Zealand and I think of the people in Whangārei as a great example. They need that four-laning. Our country needs that four-laning. The Labour Party has said no to roads. The Labour Party has an aversion to building roading infrastructure. The Green Party does not like roads either. It's time they woke up and understood that in New Zealand we need to build that infrastructure."