Young Jonathan: South Taranaki District Council (Cold Creek Rural Water Supply) Bill — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Young Jonathan: South Taranaki District Council (Cold Creek Rural Water Supply) Bill — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 21 March 2012. Volume:678;Page:1193. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
JONATHAN YOUNG (National—New Plymouth) 
: 
 I am sure that when members or representatives of the South Taranaki District Council come to the Local Government and Environment Committee the committee will be very impressed with their acumen their understanding and their professionalism as they present this situation and this case. I do think that a number of issues need to be clarified that have been raised by the members on the other side of the House in their speeches. One of them is around this whole issue of water ownership. The South Taranaki District Council (Cold Creek Rural Water Supply) Bill is not about water ownership; we understand that it is about infrastructure about pipes about concrete and about infrastructure in the ground that takes a supply of water from Cold Creek which is given under resource consent by the Taranaki Regional Council. My understanding is that the amount of water it takes is a small percentage. So obviously huge quantities of water are available to the residents of Taranaki but there are times obviously as Chester Borrows has mentioned when Opunake does rely upon some assistance due to the silting of its water supply. 
But we must understand that back in the mid-1980s when the farming community came together to put in place a water supply system for their farming necessities those farmers paid considerable amounts of money in personal contributions. This project was instituted by them for them and they paid considerable amounts of money and probably an amount equivalent to what it would cost to buy a house in Auckland at that time. So the contribution the investment and the commitment of this community to this scheme from the very outset have been tremendously high. 
Sitting suspended from 6 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. 
JONATHAN YOUNG 
: It is my pleasure to stand in support of this bill and no doubt hopefully tonight members of the Pihama and Te Kiri communities will be watching the progress of this bill through the House of Parliament. My own family roots go back to Pihama. My mother and her family are from there and their forebears. So I know the people of Pihama and Te Kiri very very well. They are industrious and hard-working New Zealanders who work on the farms of that particular area where irrigation is incredibly important. As we know by what the Hon Chester Borrows said in his speech back in the mid-80s there was tremendous commitment by the farming community to invest in the Cold Creek reticulation and water supply. 
It needs to be reiterated again that the farmers who contributed to that scheme raised their own personal capital to the vicinity of around about $45000 back in 1984 which we know would buy a sizable house in any part of New Zealand particularly in Auckland where we know that those properties now would most likely sell for a quarter of a million dollars plus. So it was a substantial investment that they made at that particular time. We also know that the Government subsidised dollar for dollar for that investment but it came on a condition that this project was going to enhance production for the farmers. I talked to farmers who still farm in that area today but who can remember back to that time in the mid-80s and the 1990s and they did see a significant production lift. 
The previous speaker from the other side made comments about the taxpayers and whether they were going to have their interests looked after in this divestment into the local community. But the increased production of those farms no doubt contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of increased revenue to the people of New Zealand. I guess that is something that the other side do not realise—that private enterprise hard work and investment of this kind is what makes this country work. We need to recognise that. We need to recognise the contribution they have made in the ownership and management that has been invested in them already over this last decade and we need to support this bill that will recognise that. We also need to recognise that the future of this scheme is going to continue to enhance the profitability of these farming communities. It is a very important thing and I am very happy to support this bill as it goes through to the select committee consideration. Thank you.