Brown Peter: Appropriation (2002/03 Supplementary Estimates) Bill — Second Reading Imprest Supply Debate 
Brown Peter: Appropriation (2002/03 Supplementary Estimates) Bill — Second Reading Imprest Supply Debate 
[Volume:609;Page:6366] 
PETER BROWN (Deputy Leader—NZ First) 
: 
 Well that was an academic’s view of the economy. I want to be a little more hands-on. If we want to develop this country we have to develop some of our infrastructure particularly roading. The roads in this country have not kept pace with traffic volumes or vehicle type. That is putting it simply but bluntly. Roads in many areas of this country are a disgrace and it is an absolute disgrace for us to say that the roads in Auckland are inadequate. It is costing the country $1 billion a year but we will sit around the table and talk about it and procrastinate for ever. We should be addressing the roading problem of this country with some urgency. 
I am encouraged that the Minister Dr Cullen has now got a small group of Ministers to recognise that there is at least a problem in Auckland. But he has done nothing announced nothing and is simply saying that it will be a talkfest. When one moves a little further away from Auckland down to Tauranga where I come from the biggest export port in the country— 
Mita Ririnui 
: It is a lovely place. 
PETER BROWN 
: It is a lovely place but it is being besieged with trucks and the trucking industry and the roading issue in Tauranga has to be addressed with some urgency. Urgent attention needs to be applied to roading in Auckland Tauranga and other places in this country. The Government got into cahoots with the Greens went around talking wacky baccy or something and the Greens came out with a road traffic reduction bill which the Government appears to think is the best thing since sliced bread. I tell those Government members over there that roading in this country is in dire straits in many areas and it should have urgent consideration. I believe that the only solution is to borrow and I say that with some reluctance. I notice from the Government’s own Budget figures that to borrow $1 billion will cost this country $57 million a year. 
David Benson-Pope 
: Where will we borrow from—foreign banks? 
PETER BROWN 
: The Accident Compensation Corporation has about $2.5 billion maybe $3 billion that it invests in all sorts of areas. The corporation apparently invests in breweries and it could be encouraged to invest in roading. But the area I think we should be borrowing from is the Superannuation Fund which is sitting there doing nothing. 
Ron Mark 
: It’s losing money. 
PETER BROWN 
: Is that right? Well it is going backwards because inflation is sucking it away. We should be investing that money in our roading infrastructure. When it gets loaned out overseas—as I am sure it will be under Dr Cullen’s instructions—it will end up being invested in the infrastructure of some other country. I want to make it quite clear now that New Zealand First believes that our roading infrastructure should be developed and we should be using Superannuation Fund money to develop it. Frankly to do nothing is not an acceptable solution. It is a problem that will not go away. 
I want to touch a little bit on shipping. When Labour came to power the shipping industry put great store on that party in particular to address its concerns. It is a shrinking industry and it is on the verge of almost totally disappearing. New Zealand is an island nation tucked right down at the bottom of the South Pacific where 99 percent of our external trade—that is our exports and imports—comes and goes by ship. Yet we have a policy that is to the detriment of New Zealand shipowners and seafarers. 
In its first term the Government came out with  
A Future for New Zealand Shipping 
 which was a report from the Shipping Industry Review. That was completed in December 2000 and we have yet to hear the Government’s response. Its silence on this issue is deafening. Meanwhile we are losing more and more ships on the New Zealand coast. We have lost all our international ships—they have all disappeared and been replaced by foreign ships with foreign crews. Many of the people who bring trade to this country seek the assistance of New Zealanders to help them do their jobs—not all of them but many of them do. I urge this Government to get on with it and announce what it will do for the shipping industry in this country. 
The Government has basically two choices. Firstly it can instigate a favourable tax regime that will encourage the development of shipping services and employment. We dearly need the skills of competent seafarers in this country. We have 13 ports and all of them require maritime expertise coming on stream in the future. 
 The other alternative is cabotage. I have some reservations about cabotage but speaking personally I would prefer it to doing nothing and letting the industry just slip away. I say to those Government members over there that they should take on board the fact that our shipping industry is still in existence but only just and it needs urgent help. 
When Harry Duynhoven was the Opposition spokesperson for transport he was very strong on this issue. He went around the country attending meeting after meeting and promised that Labour would do something to address the ills and concerns of the shipping industry. Thus far nothing has been done except for Labour commissioning a Shipping Industry Review that came out in December 2000. I do not know what will happen but I am waiting with bated breath. 
The third area of concern we have is in relation to the Government’s bid to buy the rail track back from Tranz Rail. I applaud the Government for that but we are concerned that the Government has given monopoly rights to Tranz Rail to run trains on that track. That is wrong and it will backfire on the Government in the longer term. The railway service in this country needs a competitive environment and will be all the better for it. We do not believe—as United Future alluded to the other day—that all the trains will run on the same track at the same time. That is ridiculous. It can be carved up in a proper and rational manner. But we applaud the Government for buying back the rail track and we hope it goes through. I see the member shaking his head. 
David Benson-Pope 
: I’m nodding. 
PETER BROWN 
: I am glad that the member agrees with New Zealand First. If the member studied our transport policy he would see that it is a very enlightened policy and in the longer term would aid the development of this country. 
I urge Government members to look at what they are proposing in terms of the buy-back of Tranz Rail and remove the monopoly they have given it to run on the tracks for 67 years — 
David Benson-Pope 
: We didn’t do that! 
PETER BROWN 
: Yes Tranz Rail came cap-in-hand to the Government and it gave Tranz Rail that monopoly. Although the Government had all the strength on its side Tranz Rail wanted help from the Government. The Government could have said: “We’ll buy the tracks back; we’ll allow you to run on them but we’re going to set up a competitive regime.” I urge Government members to look more closely at that issue so that we can achieve that. Transport infrastructure in this country is very very important to our long-term growth.