O'Connor Damien: Local Government (Auckland) Amendment Bill — Second Reading Instruction to Committee In Committee 
O'Connor Damien: Local Government (Auckland) Amendment Bill — Second Reading Instruction to Committee In Committee 
[Volume:618;Page:13994] 
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR (Minister for Racing) 
: 
 It is a great honour to speak on this bill. I come from a region that is not known for its passionate support for Auckland but our people do appreciate the need to sort out Auckland’s problems. 
We have just heard a speech from a member who I think was the Minister of Transport at some stage. In fact I think he was Minister of Transport almost throughout the 9 years of the National Government. He is also I believe an Auckland MP. I would think that that member for all his preaching now would have been able to do something about a major infrastructural problem this country has faced for many years. Now he has the cheek to stand up in this House and criticise a Government that has put money into transport and commitment into solving this problem in Auckland. He has the cheek and audacity to challenge this Government. Well I am proud of my Auckland colleagues because time and time again they have got up in caucus and said that they needed to sort that problem out and that they needed some more resources. 
Hon Maurice Williamson 
: This bill doesn’t do it. 
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR 
: Mr Williamson who was Minister of Transport for—how many years? 
Government Member 
: Nine. 
Hon DAMIEN O'CONNOR 
: —9 years—could not do anything to solve that problem. He walked away from Auckland. He was the person who proposed a solution that would commercialise the roads. Does the member know what? Has he been reading the papers lately? He commercialised the rail—he and his mate John Key. They flicked it off to their mates and what sort of job did they do of managing key infrastructure in this country? What happened to New Zealand Rail? Do members know the only good thing about the National Government? It was so incompetent that it could not even get through its commercialisation of the roads. Thank God it did not because we would have seen the same disaster with Auckland roads and roads around the rest of the country as we have seen with rail. 
I am proud of Judith Tizard and all the other Auckland MPs who have fought hard to get resources for Auckland roads. Those of us who come from other areas of the country know that if we travel to Auckland get caught up in a traffic jam and have to go round those dinky little back streets on our way from the airport to the central business district what sort of chaos and bizarre situation created the mess that we now have to sort out. This Government is prepared to sort it out. We are putting in an extra $2.97 billion into roading and we are prepared to spend another $1.6 billion in Auckland. We will be spending on average about a third of the country’s roading money in Auckland where about a third of the population resides. My constituents in West Coast – Tasman are prepared to accept that because after 9 years of National Government—under Maurice Williamson who has the cheek to stand up in this House and criticise—we have ended up with total chaos. Mr Williamson should get up and support this Government for this bill and for putting in place a very good infrastructure that will sort out finally and for once and for all the infrastructural issues around Auckland transport. I am proud to support this bill as is this Government.