Bayly AndrewANDREW BAYLY (National—Hunua): Well we haven't had any contributions from the Government on this bill and I think that's really disappointing. They say this is the most important piece of legislation they've got to do following a wellbeing Budget and yet very few of them can even stand up and give a 10-minute speech on the merits of why this is so important. I think for democracy all those people who are watching should be ashamed of the Government in not standing up for what they are meant to be doing. The first thing is I heard a Labour member describe tax as a beautiful thing recently—tax is a beautiful thing. I've got to say it's like I'm hearing all the Government members there saying Yes taxes are a beautiful thing and that's why we're going to increase them." Of course this excise bill increases tax for ordinary New Zealanders. That's what it does and in the context of where we've come from since this Government has come to power not only have they brought about the increase through the Auckland regional fuel tax—10c plus GST—but this bill is also about increasing excise taxes over a similar period. We had the first bit last year we've got this lot this year and we've got another lot the following year. I've asked the Minister to be clear about what happens after that if they are lucky to be in power. He's a bit silent on that—silent on that issue about what the future tax might be. Before I talk just a little bit more about the tax aspect I want to say again that National supports a lot of new modes of transport. In fact we did actually invest a lot in alternative modes of transport and the Minister even acknowledged it himself. He said that 40 percent of the Budget was going towards motorways and yes that's right. We were trying to bring together and finalise a 50- to 60-year vision for motorways around New Zealand that actually should have been done by successive Governments over that period. That concept of having this seamless four-lane highway from Cambridge right through to Wellsford is a good concept and as I said earlier in another debate on this I have no doubt we are going to see the Minister of Transport and the Associate Minister and anyone else from the Government at the opening of those final stages that were introduced and implemented under a National Government. I think it's wrong to characterise the National Party as being one that is against multimodal transport. That's not right: we invested lots in it. We were the ones who went out and bought the $660 million worth of new trains for Auckland. We did a lot for trains and a lot for KiwiRail but also for the biking initiative came from National so I'd just remind the Government members of that. But the thing about this excise tax is that it is actually quite a perverse tax in my view. What it's doing is ripping money out of the pockets of motorists but as the Minister has said the priority is on other modes of transport. So we're going to take all that money from people who use cars and use that to fund bikeways buses walking ways—all those types of alternative modes of transport. I do not think that's an appropriate thing. I do not think it is appropriate that you take money from one class of user and apply it to another class of user. I think that that is the first inconsistency and I think the most disturbing thing about the use of the excise tax which no doubt this Government is going to set about doing but also what this excise tax does is it continues to create this divide between urban and rural areas. Many of the people who will pay this tax live in small provincial rural towns and they are going to be paying for large projects. We know what the priorities are: $6 billion going into light rail projects in Auckland at the expense of $6 billion of significant roading projects around New Zealand. We know it's going into those large projects—those large rail projects—and yet many of those people who live in those rural communities do not have the opportunity even to experience the benefit of what this money will be spent on. I think that is a really bad thing and yet another inconsistency. Even in my electorate of Hunua which is still part of the Auckland Council region I have people in places like Waiuku and Kawakawa Bay who have no or limited access to public transport and yet they are reliant on their cars and will have to pay this amount of money to go into those projects in places like central Auckland. I think that's wrong. I think that really is wrong and unfortunately those are the same people in many cases in those smaller rural towns who are the most vulnerable. They are the most vulnerable to changes and increases in fuel tax because they have no other choice. As we've heard earlier today the cost of petrol for these people is proportionately much higher and that's why it's always described—this type of tax an excise tax—as a regressive tax because it hits the poorest and the more vulnerable members of our community the most. Even in my electorate we've got the Southern Motorway that's a year behind schedule. There's been a Minister of Transport missing in action in terms of how that project is so far behind schedule even though as local MPs we've been pushing for that and it is still delayed and causing mayhem. The thing about transport and these roading projects that this Government is sitting on is they're no longer just regarded as being infrastructure projects; they've actually become social issues because of the level of congestion. The Government can say what it likes—it can say what it likes—but the voting public of New Zealand know what the issue is every morning when they get in their car—and the vast majority do—and try and commute on our major roads and yet we know that the Government has ripped six billion bucks' worth and put it into what they believe are far higher priorities. The other thing is we've got the Pukekohe electrification—the Minister talks about it. Well actually it's now going through I think the third redesign and it's probably two to three years away. At some point I'd really like to hear the Minister be clear about it because we're going to have to tell the commuters of the Pukekohe and Franklin area what's going on. But there is absolute silence on it. It continuously gets delayed. We talk a good shop about rail and how we're going to extend the network but all I've seen is delay and delay and delay on that project. Then they've got another issue—and I'm just using these examples because these are all projects that this excise tax could have been used for. We've got the issue of a brand new roundabout required to unleash and unlock Wesley development the highest and largest special housing area in all of New Zealand—4500 homes—and that has been stuck. That will not be able to continue to build new houses that that Government so desperately needs but more importantly the people of New Zealand so desperately need because this Government—your Government—will not spend the money on upgrading a roundabout to make it happen which is a consent condition. So you talk a great shop but the reality is that it's not and I think that again just shows you the deception—if I can use that word—between what has been said and what is actually occurring on the ground. The other thing I'd like to raise is the issue of my farmers in Franklin at the heart of the horticulture industry of New Zealand. I of course recognise there are other industries in parts of New Zealand but Franklin is the only place where you can grow horticultural crops 365 days a year. The cost and the imposition of the road-user charge arrangements which are part of this bill and the administrative arrangements of that are onerous and have not been dealt with. This is a Government that does not recognise the value of productive areas of our economy and this is all part of this excise tax that this Government is imposing. They do not listen to people they do not listen to the travelling public of New Zealand and they certainly do not listen to the business community of New Zealand."