Collins JudithHon JUDITH COLLINS (National—Papakura): Thank you Mr Speaker. Shane Jones is many things but he is not stupid. One of the smartest things he did was to pick up an excellent National Party policy to run with it and also to involve us in the process of getting the appointments made and actually briefing us properly. His colleagues in the Government could well use that sort of nous and understanding around how to get stuff done in Parliament and across-party. Infrastructure is something that the National Party believes very fully in. I mean if we look at the roll-out of ultra-fast broadband the roads of national significance the Waterview Tunnel the electrification of Auckland's commuter rail network and the major upgrade of the national electricity grid we have a very good track record in actually committing to and then delivering on infrastructure. I am really pleased that we are able to continue to support this bill but I am disappointed that my colleague Andrew Bayly's Supplementary Order Paper was voted down by the Government in the committee stages of the House because that would have given building and construction firms better protection from the excessive risk that they take when they are contracting with the Government. The Government is a big client. It's a very enticing client when it comes to the big size of projects. But unfortunately it can be a pretty bullying client too when it comes to the terms of trade and business. What we have seen are some of our previously successful businesses in the construction industry going to the wall and one of the causes—that they say anyway—are the terms of trade and business that they have with Government agencies. So I think that is a real opportunity lost and I'm very sorry that that has happened. However looking to the positive what we can say is that it's good that the Government has worked out now that infrastructure is important because actually it's had a shambolic record to date. When they came into office the Government cancelled 12 major shovel-ready roading projects up and down the country to the huge amount of distress to local people—Dr Duncan Webb: Lots of shovels; no money! Hon JUDITH COLLINS: —but also to the construction industry. Dr Webb may find that very funny but having met with the civil contractors at the time of the East-West Link road cancellation by the Hon Phil Twyford it was really evident that contractors were concerned that they had put in enormous amounts of effort of staffing and commitment and had given up other projects to get themselves ready for this project that they had every reason to believe was happening. A change of Government came in infrastructure was suddenly out the window—didn't want to hear anything about the East-West Link. It was all going to be about light rail up Dominion Road going to Māngere—not sure because it's certainly not to the airport. What they saw was that having put huge effort into it they were suddenly left high and dry. That is the sort of thing that should not be happening. One of the things I would like to see is for Governments—successive Governments—to respect some of the decisions where contracts have been signed or certainly where people have been advised that contracts will be continuing. It is important that we don't have little hissy fits when it's not our projects that are happening. We have made it very clear that the light rail up Dominion Road is something we think is a complete waste of money time and everything else and I've noticed that the Government that was all very excited about having that happening in this term of Government now seems to have a date that's sometime after the America's Cup and possibly never because they're not quite sure where in Māngere it's going to end up—certainly not at the airport. So the whole thing is just an absolute farce. So good on Shane Jones for trying to take some sort of control and putting some form of structure around it. It must be a total delight—not really—for him to have to deal with the Hon Phil Twyford on this issue on transport. I do feel that the Hon Shane Jones has got an almost impossible job: to deal with people who don't like infrastructure except if its 19th century and who are not committed to the fact that actually most of New Zealand has to get around places on roads. One of the things that I think is really important is also to understand that infrastructure obviously has commitments around electricity around water around roading and around broadband obviously—around all the things that help to make our lives 21st century rather than 19th century. So it is really important that we take a considered and serious approach to this and not get all too party political when it's not our particular pet project. So good on Shane Jones for doing that. We're happy to support that. But as I said real opportunity lost in this Parliament in not supporting Andrew Bayly's Supplementary Order Paper because one of the big messages we're hearing in the building construction area is that businesses are finding dealing with Government agencies is just getting really hard and we can't have our construction companies businesses—some 50 or 60 years old—going broke because the terms of trade of dealing with Government agencies are just too tough. I think we just need to be a little bit smarter about this and understand that we can promise all we like in Parliament and when we're in Government on what we're going to deliver on infrastructure but we need the people to actually do the work as well as the money. People actually have to be able to do it and those people need to have businesses that are viable. So I just think it's a good start but it's a bit too late. I'm happy to support it and hope that when we are back in Government in the hopefully not too distant future it will be something that we will find useful and I think the public will find useful as well. Thank you Mr Speaker.