Auchinvole Chris: General Debate 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Auchinvole Chris: General Debate 
[Sitting date: 01 August 2012. Volume:682;Page:4168. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
CHRIS AUCHINVOLE (National) 
: 
 The previous speaker Brendan Horan is a man whom I have always regarded as having a cheerful disposition but oh how dismal the speech. I am sure it is not a natural way for him to discuss things. Those members seem to have this mindset that everything has got to be covered in mud and be miserable. From the other side of the House the people who have had the full experience of being in the Government are they coming forward saying what an exciting time we live in? Are they heck! But we do live in a particularly exciting time. We have the Olympic Games where New Zealand is putting its young people against the best in the world and doing extremely well. Congratulations to everybody who is involved in that. We have the Christchurch development with $1.6 billion already spent out of the $5.5 billion with the remainder coming through by 2015 and the recent release of a plan which shows the excitement that exists in Christchurch. 
If we look at our Government services—and other speakers have spoken at length and I know there are people in every party who are very familiar particularly with health—health has been a wonderful achievement for this Government with the improvement in and the more efficient and effective delivery of health services. Approximately $1.5 billion extra over the next 4 years means more operations shorter waiting times and a reflection at last at last a reflection of the real work that has been done for a long time in health services suddenly being made very effective. We do indeed live in exciting times. 
Meanwhile on the other side of the House Opposition members have opposed every single growth initiative that we have put forward. They should remember when they were in Government when I came into the House in 2005 we did debate issues hotly but we actually provided support for the better things that Labour did—not that there were terribly many of them. We have this constant opposition to growth initiatives. They have opposed every single restraint we made to get back into surplus and the Opposition lacks credibility on growth on jobs and on responsible fiscal management. That is such a pity because I am sure there are some good ideas on that side of the House. On this side we are working hard to get back into surplus in 2014-15. We will be one of the few developed countries that is actually not increasing debt over that period. That is our intention. We will establish and maintain international credibility that is hard won and easily lost as we continue to see in the outside world. We are increasing spending on science and innovation to more than $1.3 billion a year by 2015-16—a wise investment giving those people who are really good at technology the opportunities to give effect to some of the changes that we are all benefiting from today. 
There is also a particularly big opportunity and it is something I would like to concentrate on in handling our natural resources in keeping with a sound environmental programme. I would suggest that we are having the success that we are having because of the hard-working nature of this Cabinet and the leadership it is providing to the ministries. I would like to say that I am particularly admiring of the work of Minister Heatley. He is doing very very good work in the minerals and energy role. The potential is staggering. The future royalty income from oil and gas is estimated to be $3.2 billion with a potential to rise to $12.7 billion with a 50 percent increase in exploration. Rather than talk about renewable energy this Government has got on with the job. There was 77 percent—a very proud figure: 77 percent—renewable energy in 2011 and 74 percent in 2010 but under Labour in 2008 it was 65 percent. Minister Heatley is as I say doing a great job. A greater realisation of the benefits of modern mining is coming from him all the time. I enjoy the way he answers questions from the Green Party which to the Green Party’s credit is now reconsidering its position on mining. This was well expressed during its annual conference. Now we hear that Mr Shearer is reconsidering Labour’s approach to mining and minerals. That is all very healthy and I do not agree with the cynics who say that those members are slaughtering their sacred cows because they have finished milking them.