Kaye NikkiHon NIKKI KAYE (National—Auckland Central): Look I am with a heavy heart here to speak on this piece of legislation. I've been a member of Parliament for nine years and one of the biggest things that people talk to me about—this is all Aucklanders but also all New Zealanders—is the cost of living. So let's be very clear to those people listening at home about what we are talking about with this bill: we are not only talking about the Government raising national fuel taxes but we are talking about in this bill an extra tax in the first instance for Aucklanders but then also potentially for other New Zealanders.When I get around New Zealand it's amazing the number of people that are not aware that this piece of legislation could enable in the future other regions to come in. So there is a bit of Oh well if it happens in Auckland then I won't"—you know "Not in my back yard." But the reality is that people are struggling and they are not going to be able to afford not only the cost in terms of fuel but also around the cost of food.So it is ironic that we have a Labour Government promoting this piece of legislation and pushing it through the Parliament because of the impact on some of our most disadvantaged New Zealanders. So we know that some people who don't have a choice are going to have to get in their car and travel and they are going to have that additional cost but also the cost in terms of food.I represent a range of very diverse areas in Auckland Central. Some people might think "Oh well it's just the wealthy areas of Ponsonby and Herne Bay." but it's actually not. There are people who live in central Auckland in the CBD who are really struggling and this means more cost for their families.But also the reason I'm up to speak is actually about a Supplementary Order Paper (SOP) that I have drafted Supplementary Order Paper 27 as the local member for Waiheke and Great Barrier Island. Let me be really clear as I've been clear when I've been on these isolated islands that we oppose this regional fuel tax but actually as well our argument is we completely oppose it but I am pleading with the Minister of Transport—and I'd love him to answer some questions around this. When you have a community like Great Barrier—and I got a message from the chair of the local board the other day: at the pump on Barrier fuel has gone to $3.30. It's gone to $3.30 in the last couple of weeks and then you have these taxes on top of it.Now we know that the Auckland Council have put in a submission to potentially have Barrier exempted but at the moment the bill doesn't guarantee that; it requires the Minister's decision. My amendment will permanently exempt them because they do not benefit from a number of the transport projects. They're not going to benefit from the transport projects; they also have massively high fuel now and so what you're saying to a community what the Minister and the Government are saying to a small community of a thousand people whose average income is very low is "We are going to add potentially thousands of dollars a year more on your cost of living when you live on an isolated island and you're not going to benefit from these projects." So that's the first point. I would ask the Minister to confirm whether he's going to support my SOP with regard to Great Barrier but also with regard to Waiheke Island.Now again there's been a bit of a discussion locally about this issue in terms of Waiheke. A lot of people have said to me that when the Auckland Council went out around the submissions in terms of proposals around fuel tax they didn't understand exactly what the impact would be for Barrier. So I don't want to have some of the surveys that've been quoted locally seen as the truth of the world because the reality is that we also know that Waiheke may end up having additional costs in terms of their fuel because some of the hazardous substances rules may kick in for the island. But at the moment there is a price differential in terms of Auckland by potentially over 20c to 25c so I am arguing as a local MP for Waiheke and Great Barrier—totally separate to us being absolutely opposed to these regional fuel taxes—that the Minister supports and the Government supports our amendments around these isolated islands because they have a different set of circumstances. They are not going to benefit from these transport projects. They live in an isolated area they already have much higher costs in terms of fuel and costs of living and this will send some families under."