Dean Jacqui: General DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeDean Jacqui: General Debate[Sitting date: 02 July 2014. Volume:700;Page:19150. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]JACQUI DEAN (National - Waitaki):I was so pleased to hear that Anne Tolley’s electorate of Gisborne is going to be gaining a two-laning of the Motu Bridge. I was really pleased to hear about that initiative announced last weekend at the National Party conference. Our Prime Minister John Key recognises the importance of economic growth in the regions. I knew exactly how pleased the Hon Anne Tolley was at the announcement of the Motu Bridge because 3 years ago I was in exactly the same situation when the Hon Gerry Brownlee announced the funding for the Kurow bridges project over the Waitaki River.The reason I was so pleased is not just that it was a $20 million project in my region benefiting the township of Kurow; it was the something like 150 jobs over a period of a year and a half and all the attending expenditure that went into the Kurow township and up and down the Waitaki Valley. But it was not just that I was pleased about. It was not just the fact that there was going to be a cycle lane separate from the traffic on these also two-laned bridges over the Waitaki River which would mean that the cyclists on the Alps 2 Ocean Cycle Trail were going to be able to cross the Waitaki safely. No it was not just that and it was not just the fact that the stock trucks and the transport and the tractors were going to be able to get over the river safely and get commerce from the farm to market. It was not just that either. Probably more important than anything else was the fact that our school buses could cross over the Waitaki River safely transporting our children into our wonderful schools in the Waitaki Valley which have been so well supported by this Government through a huge investment in education.So what have they had up the valley? They have had an investment in rural broadband so now our kids in our small rural schools in our small towns in the South Island and my region of Otago have the best technology available to them. They might be remote by bus and they might have to travel an hour or more to school each way every day but they can learn anything. Not only is broadband making a difference in their lives but the different style of teaching these days means our kids are learning in a very modern environment and that is thanks to Hekia Parata and the work she is putting into schools.But there is more—there is far more good news for my region of Otago. There are the national cycleways. I have already talked about the separate cycle lane over the Waitaki Bridge. Here is a small pop quiz for my colleagues: how many cycleways are there in the Waitaki electorate? Come on—guess. How many?Chris Auchinvole: How many? Two?JACQUI DEAN: Is it two? No it is not two. Is it three? No it is not three. It is four. There are four cycleways in the Waitaki electorate. Why does that matter? Because the first and arguably the best the Otago Central Rail Trail back in 2011—and the figures will have gone through the roof by now—was returning $12 million into the local economy. That is significant.Chris Auchinvole: How much?JACQUI DEAN: $12 million. That was back in 2011. So just think back: in 2014 that was one rail trail. In another 5 years let us almost double that perhaps because things are going so well. Add in another three developing cycle trails and you can imagine the cumulative impact that these cycle trails are having on regional development in Otago.Unemployment is running at 3.9 percent. It is one of the lowest rates of unemployment in New Zealand and that is because there is so much Government intervention in the Otago region and in the Waitaki electorate that we are just going gangbusters. Growth is at around 3.9 percent. I would have to put it down to the initiatives that this Government is putting in for a productive economy through the Business Growth Agenda. There are something like 350 separate Government initiatives to grow the economy and grow jobs in our regions. I have talked about several of them but wait—there are many many more.Let us talk about the Sustainable Farming Fund. Let us talk about the Sheep Industry Transformation Project which is being put in place to transform the sheep meat industry—sorely needed and very welcome.