Little Andrew: Oral questions — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeLittle Andrew: Oral questions — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 31 March 2015. Volume:704;Page:2704. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]2.ANDREW LITTLE (Leader of the Opposition) to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by his statement that “there’s a message from Northland” for the Government; if so will the Government take that message seriously?Rt Hon JOHN KEY (Prime Minister): Yes; and yes.Andrew Little: Does he accept that one of the messages Northland sent was that his Government should have invested in roads while it had the chance rather than slashing funding by $36 million and resorting to last-minute bribes worked out on the back of Steven Joyce’s envelope?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: No one of the feedbacks we got in Northland was that people there were delighted we were spending almost twice as much on roads as the previous Labour Government which completely ignored the region of Northland.Andrew Little: Has he received the message that funding an election bribe with $70 million of taxpayers’ money without any proper cost-benefit analysis displayed an irresponsible attitude to the public purse?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: Again one of the strong messages we got in Northland was that they do want an upgrade to their bridges and actually spending an additional $69 million over 6 years makes sense given that we are spending about $135 million to $140 million per year. But if we do want to get into the matter of the costing of election promises I am more than happy to get Treasury to run the ruler over Labour’s policies which were “a dog”.Andrew Little: Does he agree with the National Business Review that one of the messages from the Northland by-election is that “The Government is biddable highly biddable and to be blunt a bit weak.”; and is that reflected in his dealings with Skycity Rio Tinto and Warner Bros?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: No but what it does reflect actually is that this is a Government in touch with New Zealanders because if the member is saying that—Hon Members: Ha ha!Rt Hon JOHN KEY: Well we should go and have that discussion with the people of Southland and Invercargill where Rio Tinto backs up 3000 jobs so under Labour they are gone. We should speak to the people who work in the film sector in New Zealand who actually physically went out and campaigned who went out there and protested for this Government to clarify the definition of a contractor. The whole way through Labour members were Hobbit-haters until the premiere came round and then they all turned up in droves.Andrew Little: Is he aware that it is not only Northland that has seen its road funding slashed under National—in fact Northland Gisborne Hawkes Bay Taranaki and State Highway 3 Manawatū-Whanganui Marlborough Nelson-Tasman and the West Coast now get a total of $100 million a year less to maintain and improve their roads than they did when this Government came to power?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: It is quite incorrect. The only thing that got eroded was the Labour Party’s vote in Northland which fell by two-thirds—the first outing under Andrew Little and he got done.Andrew Little: In light of the result in Northland is he aware of demands in other National-held seats that their MPs resign too because it is the only way this Government will ever fix their roads?Rt Hon JOHN KEY: I find it interesting actually that the Labour Party all of a sudden thinks that National does not spend enough on roads. We have had roads of national significance roads of regional significance—there has been more money spent on roads under this Government I am pretty sure than under Labour over a very long period of time which were all resisted by Labour I might add. So if it is a debate over roading we win.