Bridges Simon: Annual Review Debate — In CommitteeText is subject to correctionBridges Simon: Annual Review Debate — In Committee[Sitting date: 29 April 2015. Volume:704;Page:2977. Text is subject to correction.]Hon SIMON BRIDGES (Minister of Energy and Resources):I was hoping to give a relatively thoughtful cerebral speech but then I heard some slippery comments from the member for Te Atatū Phil Twyford and I think they really do have to be countered. Firstly we have this baseless claim that somehow in aviation the regions have been forgotten. Actually in every single case where Air New Zealand has left whether it is Whakatāne whether it is Kaitāia whether it is Westport or whether it is Taupō they have new and enhanced services from little players—Phil Twyford: Rubbish!Hon SIMON BRIDGES: Mr Twyford may not like it but they have new and enhanced players with more seats and I think in most of those cases bigger planes or good planes. That may be something that Phil Twyford does not like but actually that is what has happened and I know because I have talked with the mayors and I have talked with the local players. They feel very confident actually about the situation that they are placed in.We have had this discussion about roading cuts. Well if you talk with the Greens all you ever hear is that that is all we do spend the money on. Actually in a sense neither has any truth to it. What is true is that in the latest Government policy statement we have increased funding in every single aspect of transport whether that is local roads whether that is State highways whether that is cycling and walking or whether that is improvements or maintenance that is what we have done. In fact we have spent an unprecedented amount on transport in this country—higher than OECD averages—Phil Twyford: Not on local roads.Hon SIMON BRIDGES: —and on local roads. I commend to the member an excellent speech if I do say so myself that I gave in a general debate a few weeks ago where I ran through the figures region by region in local roading and it made quite clear that in almost all of the areas we have increased funding in local roading. I say to the member to watch that speech. If the facts are wrong come back to me in question time. Here is what I know—the member will not. The member says that actually it all adds up to a picture of the regions not being backed. Well again I refer the member to that speech. The facts do not lie. We have backed the regions and we have spent more in a number of areas.What I want to say very briefly on this annual review process is that it is new and it is something of an innovation and we are going thematic. I think that is excellent actually because it does allow us—Phil Twyford failed the test—to just stand back and be a little bit thematic across what is happening in infrastructure. In a sense if we think about the hard infrastructure—energy and transport—what is not to like? This Government has invested $16 billion in the last 3 years. I would say it is unprecedented. The rebuilding of Canterbury is probably the biggest if you want to say it this way project—certainly undertaking—in the history of New Zealand infrastructure which this Government is doing and it is making a good job of it.I want to say that I like what the chief executive of Auckland Airport said to me a little while ago. He does not think of his company if you like as an aviation company or a port company or an infrastructure company. He sees it as a travel trade and tourism business. I think that is a helpful way to think about these things not in terms of the raw infrastructure—the crass way Phil Twyford likes to think about these things—but actually what it means for the end-users and how it enables the end-users. In that sense yes transport is roads it is rail and it is aviation but it is also transport it is travel and it is enabling lifestyles. Yes energy is transmission and lines and smart meters and all of these things that we have seen unprecedented take up of in New Zealand when they have mucked up the way of doing it in other countries. But it is also fundamentally for the end-user not the anoraks like Phil Twyford or the gentleman over there who is running for the leadership of the Green Party who obsess about whether it is a bus what kind of bus or the colour of the seats. Actually it is about enabling lifestyles and enabling people to get on with their day.In energy it is not about the start line. It is about turning on the light it is about powering your iPhone and it is about doing good things and we have done that well. Actually infrastructure done well like it has been done by this Government enables New Zealanders to really get on and capture the benefits. Just to keep with that there is significant—Phil Twyford: Come and see about “Darby and Joan”.Hon SIMON BRIDGES: We will come to that. There are significant things going on and significant technological innovations happening every day. That is why you have seen me talk quite a lot in this Chamber publicly about electric vehicles autonomous vehicles unmanned aerial vehicles a number of smart meters and the internet of things because these things are happening. I think that New Zealand with smart regulation and increasingly putting that in place really can be at the front of all this making a difference to New Zealanders’ lives.The Green Party says of course that this is a Government that does not think about climate change. I hope actually we demonstrated today that that is not true. What is true across infrastructure transport and energy is that they do make up a significant part of our emissions. Of course about half is from agriculture. The other half broadly speaking is from transport and energy. We think about those things. We are working through them and technology can actually be a big part of the answer. We as a country have very significant advantages—generally in infrastructure and certainly in energy. I am really proud of the story that we have. We have got I think a very significant competitive and comparative advantage when it comes to energy which is in renewables. I have just been at the World Geothermal Congress. It is remarkable really when you think about the story of geothermal. From pre-European times through to now we probably have the best story in the world and that is set to continue. We are doing special things overseas with that.Actually energy as an export and our expertise and experience as an exporter in this area is something that I think we should be incredibly proud of as a country. We see Hawkins Construction at the moment with hundreds and millions of dollars of contracts that are primarily in Indonesia but they are looking at Kenya and so on. We have got an amazing story in renewables and we have got a renewable advantage that we should be extremely proud of. I have got to say to the member David Parker—he actually turned up in one or two of the slide shows at the World Geothermal Congress. Admittedly he was just cutting the ribbon; I am sure he had nothing to do with the projects but he was there as well. We should be there. We should proud of that.We should not forget though like the Greens want us to the non-renewable side of the equation. I know that David Parker did not make that mistake actually in Government even though Opposition members now sometimes like to forget. We should actually push on in oil and gas. We should continue what we are doing there because as the world does transition to a lower carbon future that will be an important part of the mix. The Greens make the I think fatal mistake of thinking that all fossil fuels are created the same. They are not actually. Gas and oil have a significant role to play over the time to come.In regard to transport I have already dealt with a number of the I think very wrong-headed complaints of Phil Twyford who frankly speaking is just playing politics. We will be focused in this term of Government on results and driving those from the New Zealand Transport Agency in terms of the roads of national significance the regional roading package and the cycleway which will deliver a real step change in urban cycleways right around New Zealand. We will be focused on Auckland where there are significant transport issues and significantly engaging with Auckland on their issues for the long term. We will be re-emphasising actually that we do have a proud record and that there is more that we can do in public transport and in the alternative modes of transport. We spent $1.7 billion on metropolitan rail in Auckland and about half a billion in the greater Wellington area. We will continue that strong story as I say in other areas as well.We will push on in technology because as I say we can capture those benefits really for the advantage of New Zealand. I think there is an economic advantage to us in doing so if we do become a leader in some of these areas—unmanned aerial vehicles potentially electric vehicles and autonomous vehicles. We have been a test bed in these areas before and we can be again. We will also make clear and continue to re-emphasise that transport and energy and infrastructure can be very strong enablers of economic growth and of productivity. That is why we will continue to focus on aviation the good record in the regions the air services internationally where we have seen the number skyrocket under this Government which means more tourists to New Zealand and more of our goods overseas on our ports strategies and on opening New Zealand up to markets regionally and right around the world.We have a very strong cross-infrastructural story to tell as a Government. We are going to continue pressing on with that and getting results. I am sorry that you as a Committee had to put up with Phil Twyford’s appalling speech. This Government knows what it is doing.