Hughes Gareth: Telecommunications (Development Levy) Amendment Bill — First Reading Second Reading In Committee Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeHughes Gareth: Telecommunications (Development Levy) Amendment Bill — First Reading Second Reading In Committee Third Reading[Sitting date: 21 May 2015. Volume:705;Page:3719. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]GARETH HUGHES (Green): Kia ora Mr Assistant Speaker. It is not often I find myself in the same voting position as the National Party but the Green Party and I will support good legislation when we see it. I am not going to stand here and make a political point at the risk of not actually providing internet access to New Zealand communities. I support the roll-out of the Rural Broadband Initiative. I want to see our farms our regional schools and our communities across provincial and regional New Zealand accessing the internet and I thought that the Labour Party did too. We have seen a passionate call around taxes. I know that Labour is rightfully trying to hold the Government to account for previous statements which is right but let us not buy into a frame where taxes are all bad. I support collective community capital investment to rectify market failure. I support that I think it is the right thing to do and that is why I am voting for this bill.It is right to criticise the Government for putting the cart before the horse. It is currently consulting on the roll-out of the Rural Broadband Initiative 2. It is currently consulting and here it is putting legislation in front of Parliament and passing it under all stages. I have suggested to the Minister for Communications that it is putting the cart before the horse and that the Government should have put it the right way round. It is obviously not doing that which is disappointing because the industry is not going to get a say and the public is not going to get a say. In fact the officials had advised: “Well at least the industry will get a say during the parliamentary process.” but when you are passing a law in 24 hours that is a big fat “No” to the industry.The Government also has not addressed the critical concerning question of the existing Rural Broadband Initiative which is whether this is just going to be another big subsidy for Vodafone or for someone else. The Labour Party is right to question this. When you divide the anticipated number of customers of the wireless system run by Vodafone—around 8000—by the $60 million it got it is an incredibly high $7500 per connection. Those figures might not be correct because the Government and the officials have not released the exact numbers. It seems they are worried about doing that. It seems they were short-sighted to not include it in the contract. But if they are not the accurate numbers—if it is not costing $7500 per connection—the Government should front up and give us the statistics.We do not want to see another massive subsidy paid for by Vodafone’s competitors to another one in a different scenario. That is why I have put forward a solution—Supplementary Order Paper 83—and I appreciate the Labour Party’s support and the support of New Zealand First for it. What I want to promote is the idea that the Minister must have regard to competition and diversity in the regional markets. I think these are good reasonable things that all parties should support. The Minister has intimated that this is her thinking and her direction. Well if that is the case the Government members should have no problem in supporting this Supplementary Order Paper.The officials also warn in section 17 of the regulatory impact statement that it is likely the large telecommunications companies which are currently contributing the most are the ones that will be most likely to benefit from this. There are fantastic regional solutions happening right now and the Government should not be ignoring them and just going to some of the big players.New Zealand is a challenging country in which to roll out considerable coverage of broadband. We have got topographical and other issues. Locals all across the country are already coming up with those solutions in their communities with their local councils and with local experts. Let us not sideline them. Let us in fact not compete them out of the market with a big-scale Rural Broadband Initiative - funded competitor. I hope that the Government can support the Supplementary Order Paper. I hope the Government can have a contestable fund that some of the smaller players—the real locals on the ground—can have and the first step to getting there is supporting the Supplementary Order Paper.I am voting for greater internet access. I am voting for coming together and acting in a communal fashion to invest in new capital infrastructure. I am supporting that and that is why I am voting for this legislation.