Davis Kelvin: Estimates Debate — In Committee 
Davis Kelvin: Estimates Debate — In Committee 
[Volume:656;Page:5497] 
KELVIN DAVIS (Labour) 
: 
 Today I was down in Nelson at a tourism conference where the issue of the cycleway was raised by a number of highly respectable people within the tourism industry. No one was really saying that the cycleway is a bad idea but certainly no one at the tourism conference was saying it is a good idea. They were saying that OK jobs will be created over the course of 10 or maybe 15 years but right now we are in the middle of a recession that is demanding jobs be created now not 280 jobs created over 10 or 15 years. 
I am not opposed to anything that over time will allow people to lose weight to get out and cycle and exercise. The cycleway will help with obesity diabetes and all those health issues. It will help people to get out and about and see our beautiful country. I am not opposed to anything like that but I am opposed to an idea that was dreamt up on the back of a napkin with a price tag of $50 million. Absolutely no cost-benefit analysis whatsoever went into this wonderful cycleway idea. We are in the middle of a recession; jobs are hard to come by. We are told there will be something like 3700 to 4000 jobs created out of the cycleway. That would be wonderful if it were actually going to— 
Hon Steve Chadwick 
: How many? 
KELVIN DAVIS 
: From 3700 to 4000 jobs. That is a lot of jobs except that that will not happen. We have seen only about 280 jobs created so far and 280 jobs is about one-fifth of the number of jobs that are being lost every week—one-fifth of the number of jobs that are being lost every week. This cycleway idea came out of the Job Summit. 
Hon Steve Chadwick 
: One of the three bigs. 
KELVIN DAVIS 
: It was one of the big ideas that was going to create jobs and bust us out of this recession. It is not a bad idea in itself and I do not want anyone to think I am standing here criticising a cycleway that will allow people to get out and exercise as I have already said. But this is not a recession-buster and we have to admit that it is not a recession-buster. 
In the select committee when I asked the Hon Dr Jonathan Coleman how many cycleways we were talking about and how many miles of cycleways the answer was that the Government does not know. The cycleway is about creating jobs but the Government does not know how many cycleways there will be how far they will go or where they will be. There is no detail and that is what I am opposed to. I am opposed to pretending there is a plan and pretending the Government has a solution for jobs when there is not any plan and not any solution. 
If we look at the Greens’ press release from a few weeks back we see that it said that in 1995 £43 million was assigned by the Government in the United Kingdom to build a cycleway in the United Kingdom and £43 million equates to about NZ$150 million now. We have to ask the question whether we are getting value for money at only $50 million or whether we are just being fed a line. We do not yet know how much the cycleway will cost. As I have said nobody is really disputing the fact that a cycleway with all the health benefits and with all the tourism benefits and spin-offs over time—over 10 to 15 years—will be a good thing. But right now we need a recession-buster. We do not know how many jobs this cycleway will create before the recession ends. So I am opposed to a half-baked idea that was born on the back of a napkin and then put out as if it were the next best thing for New Zealand. 
I have questions for the Prime Minister. First of all does he still agree that the purpose of the Job Summit was to create jobs to beat the recession? It does not appear that he does because we have only about 280 jobs formed out of this cycleway idea. How many jobs will this cycleway create before the recession is over? We do not know the answer to that question either. I wonder whether the Prime Minister stands by his statement that when it comes to the cycleway it is difficult to quantify the number of jobs it will create. If that is the case why does he not spend the taxpayers’ money on projects that will create a certain number of jobs? 
If the National Government was looking for an out-of-the-box idea why does it not just divide that $50 million by 2000 and give those amounts to entrepreneurs who would get about $25000 each? They could use that money to seed an entrepreneurial enterprising idea as long as they created a business or enterprise that created jobs for two other people. In that way for that $50 million we would have 6000 people employed immediately. But that is thinking outside the square and not thinking on the back of a paper napkin. 
I have a final question for the Prime Minister. I see that in the  
Dominion Post  
of Saturday 1 August there is a position for a project manager for the New Zealand Cycleway Project. The question is: is that position a front-line position or a backroom position? It is hard to know. I congratulate the person who will get that job. That person is one person who will benefit from the cycleway project before this recession is over. Thank you.