Estimates Debate — Vote Tourism

I am most anxious to make a contribution to this estimates debate on Vote Tourism. I am most anxious to make a contribution to this debate because of the good news that is contained within the tourism estimates appropriation for 2009-10. I will talk about two aspects, and the first one has to be the great decision of the Minister of Tourism to seek an appropriation of $50 million over 3 years towards the development of a national cycleway. What good news this is. I know there have been and still are doubters on the other side of the Chamber. They cannot see the value to regional tourism of the cycleway, but I can. I will tell members why. It is because we have the Otago Central Rail Trail in my electorate of Waitaki, and I tell members that it brings $7.5 million per annum into the local economy. That is good news. But more than that, it brings in some 300 jobs per annum. There are many people in Central Otago who have been looking at bleak times, particularly under the 9 years of the previous Labour Government, but we are not here to talk about that this evening.

💬 Hon Nathan Guy: Kelvin agrees with it.

Yes, a number of members acknowledge that 9 years of a Labour Government meant stagnation for regional tourism. Luckily the National Government is prepared to invest in cycleways.

The good news goes on, because this year a number of cycleways look set to benefit from this appropriation. I think it is worth saying where they are. They are spread around New Zealand. There is the Waikato River Trail, and I know that my excellent colleague David Bennett is very excited and involved in that project. There is the Central North Island Rail Trail, and if it models itself on the Otago Central Rail Trail then it will be doing very well indeed for the local economy. There is the Mountain to the Sea—the Mount Ruapehu to Wanganui trail—and the St James Great Trail in the South Island. What good news for people in that part of the country! That will indeed be beautiful. There is also the Hokianga to Opua/Russell trail, the Hauraki Plains Trails, and not forgetting the Southland/Queenstown Lakes Around the Mountain Rail Trail. All these initiatives will bring benefits to their local communities and the wider New Zealand economy, thanks to our excellent Minister of Tourism, and I congratulate the Hon John Key and the Hon Jonathan Coleman on their foresight and preparedness to invest in regional tourism economies throughout New Zealand.

A number of people have spoken well of this proposal. The Labour members across the Chamber do not understand or appreciate the benefit to New Zealand of these proposals, but a number of people do. I will talk about just a couple of them. The President of Local Government New Zealand, Lawrence Yule, said the “plan is a welcome boost for local communities.” He said: “This is an exciting initiative coming out of the Prime Minister’s February Job Summit …”. What an excellent initiative that was, in the economy we are facing, as out of the Job Summit came benefits to regional tourism in New Zealand. Mr Yule goes on to say “our member councils are delighted to play a part in it.” This is a welcome initiative on behalf of the National Government, investing $50 million over 3 years into regional tourism. The major benefit is that the local communities throughout New Zealand are energised by this initiative. I and my fellow members in their constituency seats have had a number of community groups saying they are working on cycleways and have been working on them for a wee while now, and asking where they can go. I am very happy to direct them to the Minister of Tourism’s office, where they will find encouragement. That, I suggest, is exactly what we need in New Zealand.

I will touch on one more aspect of this tourism appropriation, and that is the funding towards the Winter Games NZ. I am so pleased that this Government has had the foresight to invest $1 million in this year’s inaugural Winter Games to be held in the South Island. How exciting this will be.

💬 Hon David Cunliffe: You need to get out more.

Oh yes, the short-sighted member on the other side of the Chamber says I need to get out more. That is David Cunliffe.

Today I was down in Nelson at a tourism conference where the issue of the cycleway was raised by a number of highly respectable people within the tourism industry. No one was really saying that the cycleway is a bad idea, but certainly no one at the tourism conference was saying it is a good idea. They were saying that, OK, jobs will be created over the course of 10 or maybe 15 years, but right now we are in the middle of a recession that is demanding jobs be created now, not 280 jobs created over 10 or 15 years.

I am not opposed to anything that over time will allow people to lose weight, to get out and cycle and exercise. The cycleway will help with obesity, diabetes, and all those health issues. It will help people to get out and about and see our beautiful country. I am not opposed to anything like that, but I am opposed to an idea that was dreamt up on the back of a napkin with a price tag of $50 million. Absolutely no cost-benefit analysis whatsoever went into this wonderful cycleway idea. We are in the middle of a recession; jobs are hard to come by. We are told there will be something like 3,700 to 4,000 jobs created out of the cycleway. That would be wonderful if it were actually going to—

💬 Hon Steve Chadwick: How many?

From 3,700 to 4,000 jobs. That is a lot of jobs, except that that will not happen. We have seen only about 280 jobs created so far, and 280 jobs is about one-fifth of the number of jobs that are being lost every week—one-fifth of the number of jobs that are being lost every week. This cycleway idea came out of the Job Summit.

💬 Hon Steve Chadwick: One of the three bigs.

It was one of the big ideas that was going to create jobs and bust us out of this recession. It is not a bad idea in itself, and I do not want anyone to think I am standing here criticising a cycleway that will allow people to get out and exercise, as I have already said. But this is not a recession-buster, and we have to admit that it is not a recession-buster.

In the select committee, when I asked the Hon Dr Jonathan Coleman how many cycleways we were talking about, and how many miles of cycleways, the answer was that the Government does not know. The cycleway is about creating jobs, but the Government does not know how many cycleways there will be, how far they will go, or where they will be. There is no detail, and that is what I am opposed to. I am opposed to pretending there is a plan and pretending the Government has a solution for jobs, when there is not any plan and not any solution.

If we look at the Greens’ press release from a few weeks back, we see that it said that in 1995, £43 million was assigned by the Government in the United Kingdom to build a cycleway in the United Kingdom, and £43 million equates to about NZ$150 million now. We have to ask the question whether we are getting value for money at only $50 million, or whether we are just being fed a line. We do not yet know how much the cycleway will cost. As I have said, nobody is really disputing the fact that a cycleway, with all the health benefits, and with all the tourism benefits and spin-offs over time—over 10 to 15 years—will be a good thing. But right now we need a recession-buster. We do not know how many jobs this cycleway will create before the recession ends. So I am opposed to a half-baked idea that was born on the back of a napkin, and then put out as if it were the next best thing for New Zealand.

I have questions for the Prime Minister. First of all, does he still agree that the purpose of the Job Summit was to create jobs to beat the recession? It does not appear that he does, because we have only about 280 jobs formed out of this cycleway idea. How many jobs will this cycleway create before the recession is over? We do not know the answer to that question, either. I wonder whether the Prime Minister stands by his statement, that when it comes to the cycleway, it is difficult to quantify the number of jobs it will create. If that is the case, why does he not spend the taxpayers’ money on projects that will create a certain number of jobs?

If the National Government was looking for an out-of-the-box idea, why does it not just divide that $50 million by 2,000, and give those amounts to entrepreneurs who would get about $25,000 each? They could use that money to seed an entrepreneurial, enterprising idea, as long as they created a business or enterprise that created jobs for two other people. In that way, for that $50 million we would have 6,000 people employed immediately. But that is thinking outside the square, and not thinking on the back of a paper napkin.

I have a final question for the Prime Minister. I see that in the Dominion Post of Saturday, 1 August, there is a position for a project manager for the New Zealand Cycleway Project. The question is: is that position a front-line position or a backroom position? It is hard to know. I congratulate the person who will get that job. That person is one person who will benefit from the cycleway project before this recession is over. Thank you.

Well, I think that that contribution from Kelvin Davis really shows where the Labour Party is at. He started off his speech by saying he was in favour of the cycleway, but by the end of it he was not quite sure. I think that is pretty indicative of a party that does not have any ideas of its own. It is a bit like what happened with the super-city. Labour started off by saying it was opposed to the super-city, but now we have got to the point where Labour is in favour of it. So we can see who has the ball and is running with the play in the wider political debate.

That situation is a bit like the situation on Saturday, when we announced funding of $152 million for Job Ops. Labour said that it was OK but that it did not go far enough—

💬 Hon Steve Chadwick: It doesn’t.

You see—she says it does not go far enough. Of course, part of that funding is the $5.3 million that will go into jobs for youth—created by the cycleway. I assume Labour members think that does not go far enough. There is a certain illogical thinking going on here, because they are saying that Job Ops does not go far enough, but the cycleway is part of Job Ops and they are saying that the cycleway goes too far. There is completely muddled thinking on that side of the Chamber.

Those members do not have an idea between them. All they can do is rather flaccidly oppose anything that the National Government puts up. Quite frankly, those guys are over a barrel and in deep trouble. If we look at this estimates debate, we can see that the $50 million the Prime Minister has appropriated for the cycleway will contribute very positively to the economy. Those guys said today that they do not actually oppose the cycleway. They can see that it is popular out there. It is popular in a pan-political sense: it is popular with the left, it is very popular with the Greens, and it is popular with National supporters. Even Trevor Mallard loves it, although I do not know whether that is actually a recommendation for anything. It will create jobs; there is no question about that. It will have a number of benefits.

In respect of the cycleway, seven Quick Start projects have been announced. They will be started over the summer, and my colleague Jacqui Dean outlined where those projects will be. They will create immediate jobs for young New Zealanders, and some of those New Zealanders will be on this Job Ops programme. But all those Labour guys can do now is argue over the detail, because they have lost the substantive political argument. They have no alternatives. They want us to do something about jobs; here is $50 million that is doing something about jobs. It is producing jobs for young New Zealanders, but all Labour members can do is quibble about the detail. It is either too much or it is not enough. They cannot make up their minds.

I would very much like to hear from David Cunliffe. He has a lot to say about this stuff, but I have not heard Labour’s shadow spokesperson on finance say one single thing—not one single thing—about what Labour would do to create jobs for New Zealanders.

💬 Nikki Kaye: Who is it?

Well, who is it—exactly! Labour members had 9 years managing this economy, and they left us with a real hospital pass. We are now in the situation where someone who knows what he is talking about is managing the country—John Key. We have a finance Minister who knows what the demands are in terms of getting an economy back on the track, and they are getting on with the job.

The fact that John Key has take on the tourism portfolio is a sign of the importance of tourism to the New Zealand economy, and I can tell members that that is an extremely popular move across the industry. It recognises how important this industry is for New Zealand’s economic development. Tourism earns 9.2 percent of GDP and 18 percent of our export income. It is right up there with the dairy industry. [Interruption] Most important, I tell Mr Davis, tourism accounts for one in 10 New Zealand jobs. So down at the Viaduct Basin or down at Courtenay Place, the people serving us our lattes, the people driving cabs, and the ushers working in theatres all have jobs that are tied to tourism. Unless we get this industry going and unless we make sure it has the right support, those jobs will go.

If we look at what the Government is doing with tourism—the $96 million that has been appropriated to tourism—we can see that it is all about job creation. Essentially, the tourism industry is all about jobs. We have a great Minister of Tourism in the Prime Minister, John Key; it is good for the industry. The $50 million that is going into the cycleway will be great for regional economies. The project is popular with the public, and it is the right way ahead.