Tizard Judith: Urgent Debates — Power Outage—Upper North Island 
Tizard Judith: Urgent Debates — Power Outage—Upper North Island 
[Volume:631;Page:3487] 
Hon JUDITH TIZARD (Minister with responsibility for Auckland Issues) 
: 
 It is my joy and I thank the member of Parliament on the other side for giving me a chance to speak. I am delighted at his very late interest in Auckland. One of the joys of being part of the Labour-led Government is that Auckland has a third of New Zealand’s population and represents about one-sixth of its land area. This is a Government that accepts that Auckland’s infrastructure is vital not only to Aucklanders but to all New Zealanders. That is why this Government works across the Government on Auckland issues. It is my great joy as MP for Auckland Central and Minister with responsibility for Auckland Issues to be a constant nagging adviser to all of my colleagues. I am delighted to report to the House that they give me a great deal of time. When I rang David Parker’s office yesterday we had some discussion with his senior advisory staff. I have had a number of discussions with him. Indeed I had a briefing from him this afternoon as soon as I had accepted a large petition out on the steps of Parliament. 
I tell the House that this Government does not think it is acceptable that the infrastructure of this country has been run down to the point where one wire breaking puts the well-being of the whole New Zealand economy and the whole Auckland economy at risk. I say to this House that this Government has been working now for nearly 7 years to find out what the problems are and to address them. We understand that good infrastructure is the basis of a good economy and a good society. That is what we are working towards. I am proud of what this Government has done. I am proud of what Ministers across this Government do—the time they spend in Auckland and the number and the range of people in organisations in Auckland whom they speak to. I am delighted to say that Auckland is getting the best service it has ever had from any Government in the whole history of this country. 
The Prime Minister started out this year as she did 6 years ago by saying that Auckland matters; Auckland matters to New Zealand and Auckland matters to Aucklanders as well. We are not prepared to see Auckland bulldozed so that roads can go willy-nilly with no concern about local communities. We are not prepared to destroy Auckland as an environment for people to live in. We are not prepared to— 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. I draw your attention to the matter that we are urgently debating. It is the power failure yesterday that affected over 700000 Auckland people. I have been listening very carefully to the Minister with responsibility for Auckland Issues. She has made absolutely no mention of the power failure yesterday. I would like the Minister to address the issue of the urgent debate. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Ann Hartley) 
: I take note of it. I actually heard the member as I was coming to the Chair making reference to the topic that is being discussed. I just remind the member that during points of order there will be silence. He should stand and apologise properly. 
Phil Heatley 
: I apologise. 
Hon JUDITH TIZARD 
: I am entitled to rebut the nonsense we have heard from members across this House who are abusing Auckland and this Government for what they cannot see is the mote in their own eyes. It is time this House and this Government were given the credit for recognising that Auckland’s infrastructure does matter. 
Phil Heatley 
: There were power cuts yesterday. Does the Minister know? 
Hon JUDITH TIZARD 
: If the member for Whangarei would calm down for a minute I would very happily tell him what the problem was in Auckland yesterday. I live in Ponsonby. I was out at a meeting then I came home and put on a load of washing. It had just finished so I put it in the drier and the power went off. So I went up to Ponsonby to see whether it was a general problem or a very local one. I rang several people around the city to find out whether their power was off and I listened to the radio—as one is required to do in civil emergencies generally. I discovered that it was a major problem so I rang Wellington and asked my office to ring the Minister of Energy—actually they could just walk across the corridor. 
This Government is a good Government that in all the time it has been active has been addressing New Zealand’s infrastructure problems. Auckland is just a subset of that. This does indicate that when a storm comes through Auckland and our infrastructure does not stand up to it it means that Aucklanders suffer. But I want to point out to the baying people across the House that this affects all New Zealanders and it is something we have to work on together. 
I feel really sorry right now for the rural people in the South Island whose energy has been off not just for 1 day—as we in Auckland were relatively lucky to get away with—but for days. They accept that because they live in some of the most beautiful and isolated places in New Zealand there is a risk—but they are well prepared. I say that this Government is determined to see that in future Auckland will be well prepared so New Zealand does not suffer.