Mark Ron: Telecommunications (Development Levy) Amendment Bill — First Reading Second Reading In Committee Third ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeMark Ron: Telecommunications (Development Levy) Amendment Bill — First Reading Second Reading In Committee Third Reading[Sitting date: 21 May 2015. Volume:705;Page:3757. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]RON MARK (NZ First): I came down from my office especially to take a call particularly on these Supplementary Order Papers because of the fact that New Zealand First is hopeful. As a Wairarapa-based MP I am very hopeful that this legislation which New Zealand First is supporting led by our MP Tracey Martin will actually deal with those black spots. But we have had some concern over the years looking at the way in which the roll-out of the Rural Broadband Initiative has been delivered.As Mayor of Carterton and in my time there it was somewhat frustrating after all of the good news about the rural broadband roll-out and where it was going to find that in places where you would expect there to be good coverage astonishingly there was not. I point to a little place in the Wairarapa called Greytown. It is a little place where you drive up State Highway 2 through Featherston into Greytown and the first thing you note when you come into Greytown on the weekend is the number of Wellingtonians who are there. You hear consistently in the hotels the bars and the shops and at the festivals and the fairs about how frustrated people get by their inability to use their cellphones to ring back to David Seymour or to anyone else in Parliament or to anyone else in Wellington or to anyone else in doing business. I would just hope that—The CHAIRPERSON (Hon Trevor Mallard): Order! It is not at all hard to relate what the member is saying to the Supplementary Order Papers but the member does have to do it in order to remain relevant.RON MARK: Thank you for your guidance Mr Chairman. I take confidence in this particular Supplementary Order Paper put forward by Gareth Hughes. Where it says “(a) competition in non-urban telecommunications markets” that is us. Where it says “(b) the diversity of non-urban communities intended to be served by the levy;” we would hope given the number of small telecommunications companies in rural provincial New Zealand—small telecommunications companies that have a lot of experience in how to tackle the difficulties of getting good communications through rural New Zealand—that this Supplementary Order Paper would give them the opportunity to be involved and would allow them to compete so that they can apply their extensive experience.I can name probably half a dozen small telecommunications companies that are operating in the Wairarapa but they seem to be shut out. There seems to be something in the process that forever and for always puts the delivery of the service the provision of the service and the roll-out of the broadband in the hands of a very small bloc—namely Chorus. I would hope if nothing else even if the Government does not approve this—and I have got a strong sense that it is not going to vote for these Supplementary Order Papers—that it would still get the message because it is heartland rural New Zealand that is actually suffering right now.It is very frustrating for people there when they go to talk to WIZwireless—when they go to talk to some of the Māori telecommunications providers such as Tuarōpaki Communications Ltd up in the central plateau. Tuarōpaki Communications Ltd has invested very heavily in communications. In fact it is a strong shareholder in 2degrees but where did its roots start? Its roots started very small in a small telecommunications company. The question is: would Tuarōpaki Communications Ltd and its derivatives would the company that it is now a shareholder in—I think it is now working with Thinktank; it was with Timaru-based BayCity Communications—would these small telecommunications companies get an opportunity to have a shot without this clause?I would hope that we would support this clause. I would hope that this clause would allow greater competition opportunity for the small telecommunications companies which are experienced in rural New Zealand and in delivering services out to place like Akitio Flat Point and Tora. Those are the areas that are suffering dearly. The notion that we are suffering in Greytown is absolutely astonishing and I would argue that so far the dependence on the major telecommunications companies to deliver this service has done Greytown poorly—very poorly. That in itself is a very strong argument for the Government considering making sure that these other rural telecommunications companies which do have the experience which are out there which very often do the work for half the price and are a lot more productive because they are grateful for the business and which do this service very well because they want more business get a better shot. And we believe that this Supplementary Order Paper would give them that opportunity and that it would give them an absolute assurance that they would be invited and asked to give it a shot.I am grateful that our caucus is supporting this Supplementary Order Paper and I am grateful to Gareth Hughes for putting it forward because for far too long these small rural telecommunications companies have been ignored. For far too long the productivity they offer has been let slide by.