Upston Louise: Estimates Debate — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeUpston Louise: Estimates Debate — In Committee[Sitting date: 30 July 2013. Volume:692;Page:12045. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]LOUISE UPSTON (National—Taupō):I am very pleased to take a call in the Appropriation (2013/14 Estimates) Bill debate on tourism because very specifically it is a critical part of the economy in theTaupō electorate. If we look at what we actually contributed in the Budget this year it was really significant: $158 million in tourism over the next 4 years to help put an even greater focus on international growth because that is where the jobs come in the electorate—that is where the jobs come.Tourism is one of the most significant contributors to theTaupō economy. But if you look at New Zealand if you look at what the contribution is across New Zealand in terms of revenue in the year to March 2012 tourism generated $9.6 billion in revenue. It equates to 6.2 percent of our workforce and 15.4 percent of our export earnings. This Government is committed to growing our exports and tourism is a critical part of that. Increased investment in tourism obviously will result in more visitors to New Zealandspending more money. It was great last night to see such a superstar as our young Tom Cruise on the New Zealand boat in the America’s Cup and fantastic to see that here is someone who is now being clearly associated with New Zealand contributing in films here and clearly wanting to continue that association with New Zealand. I think that is a fantastic benefit for New Zealand.We often hear the Opposition talk about jobs and tourism clearly results in jobs. If we look at what this Budget this new investment is focusing on it is high investment and high net-worth visitors to New Zealand because—and it is a bit of a no-brainer—they spend more when they are here whether it is in retail in shops and cafes or whether it is on activities like bungy jumping or partaking in many different activities. Of course at the moment skiing is just absolutely stunning. For those of us in the North Island as well as the South Island we have some of the best skiing and the best scenery around.I want to talk about some of the other areas that affect tourism because clearly we have invested this $158 million into getting more international visitors but there are other parts of the Budget. This is a Government that sees things holistically. We have recognised that through spending in conservation for example in assets and building up infrastructure in the Tongariro crossing. We have also improved the water quality in LakeTaupō. This is a Government that has through Vote Environment put significant investment into cleaning up LakeTaupō. This is a Government that looks holistically at the opportunities to improve our revenue as a country and to grow our jobs whether it is the additional $3 million to further protect LakeTaupō’s water quality or whether it is the $35.5 million that is there. Since taking office we have committed $101 million to cleaning up our waterways. That is five times more than the former Labour-Greens Government invested so it is always a bit of a joke to hear Opposition parties talk about this Government’s record on water when it is pretty clear that we are investing five times more than they ever did.We have also just recently announced another significant opportunity inTaupō and that is with the Minister of Conservation Nick Smith’sTaupō sports fishery review. Clearly a lot of people come toTaupō for the sports fishing. It is recognised to be worth $29 million a year to the region in fishing alone. That is 300 jobs. So the more visitors that we can bring to New Zealand whether they come toTaupō whether they go to Skycity in Auckland or whether they come and attend an international convention the more revenue is generated and every one of those dollars is valuable to our economy.