Young Jonathan: Debate on Prime Minister’s StatementText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeYoung Jonathan: Debate on Prime Minister’s Statement[Sitting date: 01 March 2016. Volume:711;Page:9240. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]JONATHAN YOUNG (National—New Plymouth): The previous speakerStuart Nash was talking about the time when somebody said there were 11 unemployed people in the country. I can remember that time back in the mid-1970s. It was just down on Pipitea Street not far from this Parliament where I watched a gang from the Ministry of Works dig a hole. There were 13 workers there. Each had a spade or a shovel and there were 12 watching and one digging.Back in the 1970s this country was very wealthy because we had a great relationship with Britain. We were able to sell all of our goods no questions asked but then Britain joined the EEC and suddenly our markets evaporated and disappeared and this country has to live in a different way than it did in that period of time. We have to be far more productive we have to be sharper we have to be leaner we have to be competitive and we have to be productive on the world stage. That is what this Government has brought to this nation—productivity edge competitiveness on the world stage. That is why this country this nation and this Government are respected all around the world.Back in 2008 National became the Government with 45 percent support. We went into 2011 and we won with 47 percent support. We went into 2014 and we won again with 47 percent support. In October 2015 we were receiving 47 percent support and at the beginning of this year once again. So what that shows is that there has been consistency of support because there has been consistency of policy and consistency of output and achievement for this country. After returning to Taranaki in 2008—after living for 22 years in Auckland—what I have witnessed is the credibility and consistency of this Government in its support for the people of Taranaki and regional New Zealand. It is a good thing.What we receive from members of the Opposition is a continual—as would be expected—undermining of the achievements of this Government. I remember when the Leader of the Opposition commented and was quoted in September last year on the number of visits to New Plymouth by Government Ministers. He said “When the town was booming there were Ministers here every couple of weeks. Now you can’t see them for dust.” referring to the time of challenge and hardship that two particular sectors in the Taranaki economy were facing—obviously dairying and the petroleum sector. He said: “It’s not enough to stand on the sidelines cheering during the good times then turn your back when times are tough. Taranaki and the rest of New Zealand deserves more than that.”So he said they were there every couple of weeks. I went through the list of Ministers who came to my electorate my region and I wanted to find out the level of support this Government gave regional New Zealand particularly in my electorate. I went through and I counted them up. There were 18 ministerial visits in 27 weeks which is a visit every 10 days. So we were very much on the map and I think what regional New Zealand appreciates and understands about this Government and about our Prime Minister is the fact that there is commitment and consistency. So that was the September comment.Last week on 23 February the Leader of the Opposition accused the Government of abandoning Taranaki. He said during the oil boom Ministers touted Taranaki as the golden province. He said: “Now they’re nowhere to be seen. It’s not good enough to turn their back when the going gets tough.” So once again I went through and I looked and counted the number of my colleagues who had come through to support not only myself but the people of Taranaki and the people of New Plymouth. At the end of last year the Prime Minister was there. Nikki Kaye the Associate Minister of Education came to look at school buildings. Paula Bennett came at the end of last year to open the new Novotel hotel and to look at areas of economic development in our region.Just over a week ago Amy Adams came to celebrate the completion of the roll-out of ultra-fast broadband in my city. Steven Joyce came last week. Judith Collins came last week to support the business community and to visit the New Plymouth police station and the Department of Corrections where there is fantastic collaboration taking place. Maggie Barry was in town. So even in the last month since Parliament has been sitting we have had a considerable number of ministerial visits with them coming to our region every 4 to 5 days.So what I am saying is that regional New Zealand continues to be on the agenda and to have the attention of this Government but we would be told differently. In fact the people of my region shake their heads they scratch their heads and they wonder at what they hear being so different to what they see. This is why despite the rhetoric this Government and our Prime Minister continues to receive support from New Zealanders—nearly one in every two. What they see is consistency. What they see is consistency and a tremendous gap between us and the Opposition obviously as well.Then of course we have—I will not tell you what is happening and coming up. But the previous speaker came and visited Taranaki not just recently but let me just talk about his visit last year—when he came with a number of his colleagues to visit the Stratford power station. I think this is a great example of why people question the validity of the members opposite to govern. My colleagues across the way Mr Nash and Carmel Sepuloni and of course Mr Grant Robertson came and they had a good look at some of our assets. There was an article in the Taranaki Daily News that was quite perplexing. So I wrote a letter to the editor because I wanted to know the answer about the difference between what they said and what I saw. I think New Zealanders all the time want to know the difference between what they see and what the Opposition says.So I wrote a letter to the editor. The article on 8 October by Hannah Lee is titled “Labour Bigwigs”—that is you Mr Nash—“Visit on Regional Outreach”. It has Grant Robertson Labour’s finance spokesman saying “there was an increased interest in the Stratford power station now that Contact Energy had shut down their Ōtāhuhu power station for good on 30 September … It’s a bit of a boost for Stratford.” So that is pretty good. He knows Contact Energy is permanently closing the Ōtāhuhu power station therefore Contact Energy’s other assets such as the Stratford power station are going to be in higher demand and higher need. I can see why Andrew Little made him finance spokesman. Then he went on to say: “However the power station like other regional infrastructure was in need of desperate upgrades to bring it into the 21st century.” If I was Mr Nash at that point in time as the energy spokesperson I would be saying to Mr Robertson: “Grant please don’t say that. Don’t say that.”So needing to understand his sublime commentary on energy generation and infrastructure I wrote a letter to the editor seeking the paper’s wisdom. In terms of Grant Robertson’s referring to regional infrastructure needing a desperate upgrade I was not sure which of Contact Energy’s power stations in Stratford he says needs upgrading. Could it be the 377-megawatt station that Contact Energy describes as a large efficient and modern plant being one of the largest gas turbines in the world housed in a single building? Could it be that one? Or perhaps it is the other power station needed to be to be brought into the 21st century Contact Energy’s 200-megawatt gas-fired station the one that Hekia Parata Chester Borrows and I accompanied the Prime Minister to which he opened on 31 May 2011?Just as I close what I want to say is that credibility is the most tradable commodity in politics. Just last week we had Mr Little telling all of Taranaki that the Government has abandoned them. Just 2 days before the Minister for Economic Development the Hon Steven Joyce was there meeting with all the civic leaders of the whole region putting his finger on the pulse finding out what is going on.This is why this Government is credible and can be trusted. We have not abandoned—in fact we are committed and we work hard to support—regional New Zealand and we work hard to ensure that the economy of this nation continues to be strong and will continue to grow even in places such as Taranaki where the commodities of milk and oil are receiving far less than they used to. What we see is a region that is resilient working hard pulling together and that is going to come through this with flying colours. Thank you.