Simpson Scott: General Debate 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Simpson Scott: General Debate 
[Sitting date: 20 March 2013. Volume:688;Page:8721. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
SCOTT SIMPSON (National—Coromandel) 
: 
 What an interesting afternoon and what an interesting position in this debate to follow the Hon David Cunliffe—the only man who is happy and smiling as a result of the revelation of the secret bank account of his leader. The only man in the Labour caucus to gain from this is indeed the Hon David Cunliffe and he was in sparkling form this afternoon—sparkling form—renewed reinvigorated and re-energised at the prospect of a further leadership bid. Like the Labor Party in Australia Labour here is looking around for a new leader and it may well find one. It has got a candidate there waiting in the wings ready to go. David Cunliffe is smiling from ear to ear looking like the Cheshire cat that he is so famously attributed to be. There he is today enjoying it in every possible way. 
He I am sure does not have a failed memory or the same kind of memory fade that his leader has. Day after day hour after hour week after week last year we heard from members on that side pillorying the member for Epsom the Hon John Banks for what was ironically exactly the same kind of memory fault that their leader now so deliciously finds himself impaled upon. So I was interested to hear the Hon John Banks speak in this debate today and take what was clearly great delight from the situation that has been revealed this week. 
It has been a long hot summer in Coromandel. Our farmers on the Hauraki Plains and around the Coromandel have had a very very tough summer. Some tell me that it is the worst drought since the summer of 1946-47. In fact I was speaking to a couple of my senior retired farmers on the plains only last weekend and they told me that without doubt this is the worst drought since 1946-47. They pointed out to me that that was a very tough time—just after the war no Government support every man and every family for themselves and the plains were still being drained and broken in. I just cannot really think how difficult that must have been for the farmers of that generation at that time. 
Times have changed since the summer of 1946-47. This John Key - led Government is one that cares about and understands how important our rural sector our farming community is and how important it is to the backbone of our economy. We know that it will come through this that the rain will come—it is predicted in the next week or two—and that the conditions will return to favourable conditions before very long. We know that the Government support is there through the rural support trust and rural assistance payments from Work and Income if necessary. We are a Government that understands and supports. 
But every cloud has a silver lining. Every cloud has a silver lining and though it has been a hard summer for our farmers our tourist operators such as our Hauraki Rail Trail cycleway operators tell us that the tourists have been coming to Coromandel in droves. They have been enjoying the summer. The biggest problem that we have had on the Hauraki Rail Trail this summer has been its almost full capacity. Indeed the Mayor of the Hauraki District Council tells me that so successful has the Hauraki Rail Trail been this summer—it was originally predicted to have in year 5 some 45000 people riding it—that in January of this year over 12000 people cycled it in just 1 month. So now the Hauraki District Council on the back of that kind of success is going to have to provide extra infrastructure in the form of parking and facilities for the numbers of people who want to ride the cycleway. What a wonderful problem that is to have. We hear reports of cafe owners and restaurateurs who are finding it difficult to cope with the demand that is coming from the cycleway. 
Coromandel has been receiving great economic benefit in recent times with two big announcements in just the last week or two. Fonterra is spending $100 million at Waitoa on a new milk-processing facility—50 jobs and untold extra contractors working there—and Summerset in Katikati is spending another $100 million on a new retirement village. It has been a long time since anyone has spent $100 million in Katikati and the folk of Katikati welcome it as do I as the local member. 
These are good times for this National Government and these are good times for the people of Coromandel. They have enjoyed and are basking in a continued long hot summer. Notwithstanding the issues and challenges that our hard-working farmers and their families have they will come through it and we will continue to prosper and work hard through this enjoyable summer. It has been a great summer for National. 
The debate having concluded the motion lapsed.