Goudie Sandra: Address in Reply 
Goudie Sandra: Address in Reply 
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SANDRA GOUDIE (National—Coromandel) 
: 
 I am proud to follow Te Ururoa Flavell and I support his words because this is a Government that has a vision a strategy and a drive to work with and form relationships with other political parties. That is what has made such a difference to the governance of New Zealand. We have the fiscal and economic responsibility and we are going to work through the economic climate that we are currently challenged with to deliver to the voters who threw out that lot over there. The previous Government was thrown out of office by New Zealanders who had had enough of its socialist ideology its nanny State its total incompetence and its irresponsible stewardship of taxpayer money. Old Mother Hubbard stripped the cupboard bare. Those members even spent what was not in the cupboard; they spent income before it was even received. 
The Government coffers were in a sad state before we were even hit with the current recession. New Zealanders knew it and they knew that National was the only choice to take our great country forward under the outstanding leadership of the Prime Minister John Key. From the moment he took office New Zealanders responded with hope pride and a new sense of purpose for our country as John leads us through these pretty tough economic times. We have had a wonderful start to what will be a long term in office beginning with the 100-day plan not least of which have been the announcements made today. There has been support for business and for changes to the Resource Management Act which are long overdue. The Labour Party was in Government for 9 years and did nothing. These changes are beginning to restore people’s faith in their Government which is a National Government led by John Key. These changes have been incredibly uplifting and inspiring for so many New Zealanders. Add to that the announcement of infrastructure spending today and the boost to the economy and people are further justified in their choice of Government and sound leadership. 
I will make special mention here of course of the Kopu Bridge. I have to talk about the Kopu Bridge. I think that this is an awesome commitment and a step forward from the National Government. You know there have been years and years of lobbying by successive mayors and I would like to name several: Chris Lux who was an outstanding mayor for the Thames-Coromandel District Council during his time in office; Basil Morrison who was another outstanding mayor for the Hauraki District Council and who is also staunchly supportive of a new Kopu Bridge; followed by Mayor John Tregidga of the Hauraki District Council; and Mayor Philippa Barriball of the Thames-Coromandel District Council. They have worked long and hard for this as have the individuals the community the locals and all those motorists who have sat in never-ending queues for hours on end. At times those queues stretched for 8 kilometres along a State highway. Everybody was sitting there waiting until the light turned green. It was just extraordinary. Passengers would hop out of the cars while they were waiting and start jogging to the bridge then wait for their driver to catch up pick them up and carry them forward on the next leg of their journey. 
People said if the bridge was built everybody would start to speed and race around the Coromandel. I have to tell people that I think the opposite is absolutely true because of the frustration built up at the bridge. Of course there could not be any deaths at the bridge because there cannot be accidents while cars are stationary. The fact that those cars were sitting there stationary for hours on end meant that frustration grew and by the time the lights turned green and motorists got across the bumbling bridge they vented their frustration on their ability to actually get on the road and start moving. At that point they would start to speed. So I think that speeding is something we will not see. People will drive down to the Coromandel Peninsula from all points—north south and west—and they will take a much more leisurely pace because they know that they will not have that same hold-up at the Kopu Bridge. 
The other issue that came up last year which the previous Government completely failed to address was the structural integrity of the bridge. That was a serious concern for a number of people. Although the piles underneath the concrete foundations might be sound—puriri logs become petrified and like rock—the concrete pillars on top of that were very questionable indeed. There was no density testing. In my view the assessments that were given were completely unacceptable as they were made following a visual stocktake of the concrete structures under the bridge. Some people talked about the rolling camber of the bridge as they watched trucks being driven ahead of them. There were serious concerns about the structural integrity of the bridge. The project has now been brought forward. It could have been done at any time by the previous Government just like many other projects but for some reason in its wisdom it chose not to do so. Those members chose not to go ahead with the project. Even when the Minister of Transport was challenged last year she never gave any commitment to funding. 
Hon Darren Hughes 
: Yes she did! 
SANDRA GOUDIE 
: Oh no she did not. She never did. I never saw it. 
Hon Darren Hughes 
: It’s right here: 11 December 2008 Waikato Regional Transport Committee. 
SANDRA GOUDIE 
: The Minister might like to take a call and tell us when that was actually going to happen. 
Hon Paula Bennett 
: He’s a member of Parliament. 
SANDRA GOUDIE 
: Sorry he is not a Minister. Of course the member is absolutely right. New Zealanders turfed those members out. Why was that? They were not doing anything so they were turfed out. They were found to be wanting because of their socialist ideology their nanny State and their incompetence with money. I would not put that lot in charge of a piggy bank to be quite frank. New Zealanders made the decision and sent the previous Government packing. 
We are just delighted that we now have the Kopu Bridge on a roll. I would like to make particular mention of the late Graeme Weld who was mayor of the Western Bay of Plenty District Council. He was a wonderful man and he was very committed to his community. At the time when he was unwell—I was unaware of that—he made me promise that I would take up his cudgels for supporting the Katikati bypass. At that time I gave Graeme my unswerving commitment to do that and he then passed away about a month later. I had no idea he was sick at the time so I just wanted to mention Graeme and pay tribute to him for the work that he did which we will continue to carry forward. 
With all the announcements made today in regard to infrastructure in schools and housing I think the New Zealand public can take great heart from the extraordinary leadership of the Prime Minister John Key and his supporting Ministers and members of Parliament. They are a fantastic team of people. The talent here far outstrips anything that has ever gone before and anything else on offer in the House. I commend everybody who is supporting this infrastructure programme the 100-day plan and the National Party.