van de Molen TimTIM VAN DE MOLEN (National—Waikato): Thank you Mr Speaker. What a contribution from Duncan Webb. It demonstrates just how disconnected this Government is. I'll refer to a comment he made earlier in this debate actually when he laughed at the suggestion that people might not be able to walk everywhere. Well I think even his constituents in Christchurch would be embarrassed by the naivety of that comment when you consider the regions around New Zealand. Clearly that Government is not considering the regions around New Zealand when it comes to the excise tax increases that we're seeing under this bill—4c extra this year 4c extra next year. What's the benefit of that to regional New Zealand? We've heard from the Government that their focus is on trams in Auckland—trams and trains. We're not seeing any new roading projects as a result of this additional $360 million - odd of tax revenue that they will gain through these increases. During the committee stage I asked the Minister of Transport a question which went unanswered—a couple actually but one in particular that I'll come back to now—which was in relation to the timing of this being implemented. We'd heard previously there was going to be $300 million - odd of tax which they've signalled through these 4c increases each year but they've pulled it forward three months so now it's 1 July. The Minister refused to change that via an amendment from Mr Goldsmith because he said it would be $30 million a year of lost revenue. So conversely that's $60 million of additional revenue the Government will now have through bringing this forward that they had not expected to have previously which was not in the Budget when they originally planned their projects. So the question I had during the committee stage which I'll reiterate now and hope to get an answer from the Government on is: will the Minister now reconsider the Waikato Expressway from near Cambridge down to Piarere through my electorate a very dangerous section of road? That $60 million would cover a significant portion of that road. Will he consider putting that back on the cards now given that the New Zealand Transport Agency has said it has a very strong case—a very good cost-benefit ratio—and has a significant safety focus? We've heard from numerous members on that side saying Oh if only the Opposition would think about safety." This is all about safety Minister. I want to touch on Jan Logie's comments earlier as well. I admire her focus on safety there because actually we all want to see increased safety in the transportation space. This won't achieve it. The Government's projects here will not achieve that for rural New Zealand. There are a number of roads around the country that do have quite dangerous intersections. Of course people need to be mindful of that when they approach them but actually we can be doing more as a Parliament to reduce that risk and we should be. Two of those intersections—State Highways 1 and 29 Karapiro Road and State Highway 1—would have been bypassed by that expressway and so I'd urge the Minister to reconsider that. Those intersections have been absolutely dangerous. There have been lives lost sadly and we would have bypassed those with the expressway. So we hear about how this is all about safety but really it's not. It's about trams and trains which will have very little impact on safety and actually very little impact on reducing congestion as well which has also been identified by the Government as no longer the priority that it was although they have mentioned it a few times throughout the course of this debate. As I've sat here through the entirety of each reading and each stage of this bill I have not heard any clear reasoning why the Government is unprepared to look at projects in the regions. All of these projects are centralised to Auckland to the cities and whilst I absolutely accept there is a need in some of those places it's not going to benefit all the residents in those areas and it's certainly not helping the regions. The regions are losing out. We heard a bit from Scott Simpson during the committee stage as well around his electric vehicle. There are a number of members on this side of the House who do drive electric vehicles. I have a lovely one myself which I drive around the mighty Waikato and of course we won't be paying any of this excise tax with those electric vehicle capabilities. Is that fair for all of New Zealand given that we use the roads just as much? It's not. The regions are missing out the Government doesn't care and quite frankly it's not good enough."