Lees-Galloway Iain: General Debate 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Lees-Galloway Iain: General Debate 
[Sitting date: 15 August 2012. Volume:682;Page:4404. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY (Labour—Palmerston North) 
: 
 I have seen more coherence in a French back line than I saw from the speech of that member Tim Macindoe over there. What a rambling mess. Could he tell us what the National Government has done for Waikato? No. Could he tell us about regional development from this Government? No. Could he tell us about economic development from this Government? No. All he could talk about was the success of other people—other people who have done things that have got nothing to do with the National Government at all. All he could do was ride on the coat-tails of sportspeople and Olympians because he has nothing positive to tell his electorate or the country. 
I would like to point out to that member that I appreciate the win by the Chiefs. I appreciate the fact that Aaron Cruden did most of the work—a good Manawatu man. You can have him as long as he keeps winning for you and he is coming back to keep winning for us as well. 
I visited Hamilton in the Waikato and I got exactly the same message there as I get from people in the Manawatu and the Rangitikei. When I talk to small businesses in the regions I hear two stories. One is that there is no work. There is no work out there and businesses are struggling to stay afloat because this economy has stalled. This Government has done such a pathetic job of getting the economy moving that there is no work out there for small businesses and they are struggling to keep people on. But I hear another story as well. There are some businesses out there that are starting to recover and they want to take people on. They want to employ people in the regions. But guess what? They cannot find the people with the skills they need to grow their businesses. 
That is why we end up with graphs like the one I am holding up which was in the  
Dominion Post  
on the weekend. The top line is the unemployment rate which is remaining stubbornly high. But the bottom line the blue line is the job vacancies. There is an increase. This goes from 2009 through until today. Job vacancies have gone up by 72 percent yet people still are not employed. Why is that? It is because this Government is not investing in the skills that are required to grow the regional economies of New Zealand. 
So what do you think the Government should do? I think it should invest in tertiary education and particularly invest in teaching the skills that are required to grow our regional economies. In my area in the Manawatu we have got the Universal College of Learning or UCOL. It has had its funding cut by $4.4 million. That is a 12 percent cut for the Universal College of Learning. But it is not just us. Our friends over in Taranaki have had a 13 percent cut to their institute of technology. Worst hit of all is Aoraki Polytechnic down in South Canterbury. It has had a 20 percent cut—one-fifth of its funding has been cut. It is the same across the regions of New Zealand because this Government is not interested in investing in skills. 
This Government is not interested in backing New Zealanders. This Government is not interested in growing the economy. All it is interested in is roads of national significance. That is the only item on the agenda. 
Hon Member 
: And the cycleway. 
IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY 
: Oh and maybe a cycleway—a jobless cycleway. Sell a few assets and build a few roads—that is it. I find it fascinating that this Government is selling off profitable assets in order it says to keep down debt but it said today it is happy to borrow money to build roads of national significance. 
What the Government should be doing is allowing the regions to play to their strengths. In my region of Manawatu we want to build our capacity as a transport hub. But guess what? The Manawatu Gorge road has been closed for nearly a year because it is not a road of national significance. The Government is taking away the Capital Connection because it lies alongside a road of national significance so it will not get any funding. It is great! A railway that has a benefit-cost ratio of between 1.6 and 3.0 cannot be funded at a rate of $300000 a year but the road next to it which has a benefit-cost ratio of less than 1.2 is having millions of dollars spent on it and the Government is going to borrow to put the money into that road. It is ludicrous—it is absolutely ludicrous. 
In the Manawatuwe have the defence forces. Because of the mess that this Government has made of the change programme in the defence forces we have lost 293 of our defence personnel from Linton and Ohakea. Again it just does not seem to matter which portfolio it is this Government is overlooking the regions.