Locke Keith: General Debate 
Locke Keith: General Debate 
[Volume:633;Page:4783] 
KEITH LOCKE (Green) 
: 
 The Green Party has had a tremendous reaction from around the country since we launched a petition yesterday at both the Auckland and Wellington railway stations calling on the Government to guarantee the continued operation of the iconic Overlander passenger service for the next 2 years while the following important steps are undertaken: a study is initiated to assess the long-term viability of the service; an integrated marketing campaign is conducted to further increase passenger numbers; and the necessary resources are invested by ONTRACK to return the rail track back to a standard that will allow the service to run reliably. 
We have had support from around the country. All kinds of people are helping with that petitioning across the country. By and large Dr Cullen’s response to questions from Jeanette Fitzsimons and Sue Kedgley in the question period today was disappointing. It is true and we are at least heartened by the fact that he did not rule out some form of future service and that he talked about it as a possible tourist service. But I think it is important—and councils across the North Island are calling for this—to keep the service going in the meantime because it will be much harder to resurrect the service when it runs out completely than it will be to keep it in operation for 6 months 12 months or as our petition proposes for 2 years while we take the steps suggested in that petition. It is not as if it will be a huge burden on the Government’s budget. 
Of course there has to be negotiation over what the Government’s financial contribution might be and in what way the Government becomes involved. Toll suggests $1.75 million and a $500000 injection to help with the rolling stock. That is not an excessive amount. It should be negotiated to see whether it is appropriate for that level but it would not break the Government’s budget particularly when we are talking about an iconic service that has been going for 98 years. Folk songs have been written about it etc. 
The thing that I picked up at the Auckland railway station yesterday and which I have picked up across the country is that it is part of New Zealand’s culture and we should maintain it at all costs. It is true that the patronage has dropped as Dr Cullen mentioned in one of his replies. It has dropped from 90000 to 50000 over a 2-year period. But the main reason for this is not that people are just taking the cheap air fares—cheap air fares have been in operation beyond that period. I think the real reason is the reliability of the service. A 12-hour service in the summer can take up to 14 hours. It could be that the service would take a much shorter time if the proper maintenance work was done on the track. There has been delayed maintenance since the privatisation of the railway back in 1993 and it is good that the Government has taken back the track and put some money into the development of the railway. But much more money is needed and the development needs to be sped up. 
All the marketing and tourism people say that the railway could be a huge success but it needs marketing. Most of the tourist operators have pulled back on the marketing because it is not a reliable service. So reliability is the key here. Subsidies work around the world. The Australian Government gives subsidies to the Great Southern Railway and that has increased patronage over recent times by 40 percent—although if our railway were marketed properly it probably would not need a subsidy. 
We should see it as iconic. What the Maori Party member asked in question time today was very relevant. This railway goes through two key Maori areas. The first is the Tainui area. Government members have been down at Turangawaewae celebrating the appointment of the new king and we heard today that the king is in favour of keeping that service if at all possible. It is part of his people’s cultural heritage. Similarly with the Tongariro National Park having been granted to this nation by Ngati Tuwharetoa the train service is particularly appropriate. It already stops at National Park.