Kuriger Barbara: Debate on Prime Minister’s StatementText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeKuriger Barbara: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement[Sitting date: 10 February 2016. Volume:711;Page:8866. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]BARBARA KURIGER (National—Taranaki - King Country): A previous New Zealand First speaker referred to the Government as not having a plan. The Government does have a plan. It is called the Business Growth Agenda. It is the Government’s programme of work that will build a more productive confident and competitive economy. The bits that make up that growth agenda are around skills around export around infrastructure around innovation and around natural resources and investment. Today I want to focus on the infrastructure part of that.The New Zealand First member talked about old-school thinking. It is not actually old-school thinking; it is new-infrastructure thinking because there was a massive announcement in the Prime Minister’s first speech of the year around infrastructure for State Highway 3 bypassing Mt Messenger and Awakino which run through my electorate. It was great to hear the Prime Minister refer to that yesterday in the House when he spoke as well.I was driving along the other day and I just said to the person in the car with me: “I love roadworks.” You know we have a massive new roundabout at Waitomo. It is keeping tourists and residents safe. It was a horrible piece of road before and now we have this fantastic safe roundabout.We now have one in the beginning phases that is on the way to Hamilton Airport which is also in my electorate. It is the main road in and out to the national fieldays at Mystery Creek which as the southern hemisphere’s biggest agricultural function Minister Guy will be well aware of.Hon Nathan Guy: Yes. Huge.BARBARA KURIGER: And so it is really fantastic that by June Minister the roundabout will be ready for all the visitors who are coming into the Taranaki - King Country electorate.Hon Nathan Guy: Good local member.BARBARA KURIGER: Absolutely. So the State Highway 3 thing—I do want to mention as a new MP that there are a lot of people who have done a lot of advocacy and preparation for that in the past. A couple of people whom I do want to mention are former Taranaki MP Roger Maxwell who has been a key driving force on that piece of road and the Road Transport Association member Tom Cloke.Secondly I want to touch on the significant investments going into our urban and rural cycleways. Over the holidays my husband Louis and I actually biked the Timber Trail which goes between Benneydale and Ōngārue which is almost in Taumarunui and it is just amazing. It is environmental it is historical and there is a whole lot of information there. It is actually very steep—up and down—but it is jolly good exercise and it is a fantastic venture for all of those local people who are providing farmhouses and meals. The tourism in that space is actually booming and I am pleased to say that actually 85 percent of the people who are coming down to bike that trail are coming from Auckland. So as we get a better road we will be able to attract more people into the electorate. I am very excited about both of those things.I am also very excited that the Government this year is going to progress legislation to reform the Resource Management Act. It will reduce costs and delays not only for homeowners but also for businesses. It does not matter if they are small or medium sized because in our electorates particularly the provincial ones they are made up of huge numbers of small to medium-sized businesses. What I am finding at the moment is that people get very frustrated with red tape. It costs a lot it takes a lot of time and effort and we need to find a way to simplify that so that people can get on with starting new businesses employing skilled people and creating employment without the hassle of having to go through the whole rigmarole of trying to get their consents through. So I am very very happy about that one.The other thing that is also going to really improve my constituents’ lives is the gains that will come from the Trans-Pacific Partnership. It is a fantastic agreement. It is going to cut a whole lot of tariffs off for our primary producers and it will give our provinces a real boost.So I am really excited about 2016. It has got off to a really good start in my electorate with the roading announcement and I have been very proud over the last 18 months to be part of a Government that is really focused on making a difference for the people of New Zealand. Thank you.