Horan Brendan: General Debate 
Text is subject to correction 
Horan Brendan: General Debate 
[Sitting date: 01 August 2012. Volume:682;Page:4167. Text is subject to correction.] 
BRENDAN HORAN (NZ First) 
: 
 I would like to say that rail is a vital part of New Zealand infrastructure— 
Simon O’Connor 
: Where are the pictures? 
BRENDAN HORAN 
: —but New Zealanders are asking—I have pictures do not worry. I am bringing them out. But I am bringing them out because of the safety aspect. There are derailments every week but a major one is imminent. I would like to see a Government actually stand up and say that safety is important. But what is very important is jobs—jobs for New Zealanders. 
I would like to take a walk back in memory lane because history is important. If we know where we are going to go we have to know where we have been. I would like to take you back to October of 1992. The National Government of the day gave Fay Richwhite financial advisership on New Zealand Rail. Then we started to see outsourcing. We saw Kiwis losing jobs in maintenance. We saw it attack passenger rail. And in April of 1993 with full knowledge of the financial dealings of New Zealand Rail all of a sudden Fay Richwhite brokered the deal with the Wisconsin rail firm and sold New Zealand Rail. Overnight it made millions of dollars and the New Zealand taxpayer lost hundreds of millions of dollars. 
It is starting all over again. What are we seeing at the moment? We are seeing outsourcing. We are seeing the morale of KiwiRail at its lowest ebb since 1993. And we are losing workers and they are not being replaced. It is all part of the process of this Government to privatise KiwiRail. The writing is on the wall. 
If we look at the cost of contracting out it is not best practice. In fact it is dangerous practice. That is why I have these photographs here. This photo is of a mudslide which creates spreading in railway tracks. I mean it is there and it is a safety issue. The photo was given to me by concerned KiwiRail staff who do not want to see a derailment. This one here is of a number of sleepers that were bought by KiwiRail that are rotten. They have a virus within them. They were supposed to be hard wood but it got them from South America with a virus within the wood. You can see the growth within those railway sleepers. You can go along with a great bar push down and you will go through the sleeper. This is extremely dangerous and I will say it again: a major derailment is imminent in New Zealand unless we act. 
Look at some of the other things that happen when you bring in contractors. I will look at something just on Monday night in the Kaimai tunnel there where they use contractors to do some maintenance. Some of them did not even have gas masks. This is an occupational health and safety problem. This is what happens when you get in contractors. It is bad practice and it is— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! The Speaker is unlikely to get in contractors. 
BRENDAN HORAN 
: National is undermining KiwiRail whilst pretending to be supportive.  
New Zealand First asked the question 3 months ago about the Gisborne rail link. What happened there? We were told: “Oh no KiwiRail is looking after it. It is its problem.” But then we find out in a radio interview with Jim Quinn that he turns round and says that the Government is stalling. So one hand does not know what the other one is doing. One hand is saying one thing and the other is doing something entirely different. So New Zealand First is asking on behalf of the people of Gisborne and those workers in Wairoa what the Government is doing with the Gisborne railway link. What is this Government doing with KiwiRail? 
Today New Zealand First asked a question about the locomotives and about the railway wagons. When you spend $100 million in a foreign country and you are using hard-earned taxpayer money to do it that money goes straight away into that foreign economy. Were you on the other hand to build the wagons here in New Zealand that money would go into the economy. Truck drivers would be paid. Form workers would be paid. The rail workers would be paid. They would go down the road and they would buy some bread. The dairy owner gets paid the baker gets paid—