Address in Reply

Members and the gallery will leave as silently as possible. Can we check that the mikes are on for all those who call.

Thank you, Mr Speaker, and thank you for the opportunity to speak in this Address in Reply debate. Can I take this opportunity, because I don’t think I’ve taken this opportunity yet, Mr Speaker, to congratulate you on your ascension to the role of the Speaker of this House and thank you for your very wise and judicious oversight so far and, no doubt, for the coming years.

I want to also thank the voters of the Pakuranga electorate who re-elected me and put their trust in me as their local member of Parliament at the last year’s election, but, more importantly, for putting their trust and confidence in this coalition Government to get our country back on track. As I went across the electorate and across the country during last year’s election, it was very clear to voters not only in Pakuranga but across New Zealand that the issues that had been put on them by the last Government—the cost of living, the law and order crisis, the infrastructure deficit that this country was facing—were significant issues facing them. And they voted for change. Overwhelmingly they voted for change in Pakuranga and in East Auckland—actually, across New Zealand.

We have been voted into Government to get things done for this country, to get things back on track, to address the cost of living crisis, to ensure that we restore law and order, and to deliver the infrastructure that this country needs. What a big mess we have had left behind by the last Government—what a big mess left behind by the last Government. The last Government has left behind not only a cost of living crisis but in my portfolios an infrastructure crisis that we are going to have to deal with and grapple with. It’s not just the potholes peppering our highways—which there are tens of thousands of, which needed to be repaired last year, and which this last Government did not focus on—but the fact that in Auckland they didn’t even start building Auckland light rail. They spent $228 million on Auckland light rail but didn’t even deliver one single metre of light rail.

I want to congratulate my new colleague for Mt Roskill, Carlos Cheung. What a great man Dr Carlos is. What a great man, and what a wonderful maiden statement he gave yesterday. And he beat—

💬 Hon Dr Shane Reti: Who did he beat?

Yes, who did he beat? Good question. He beat Michael Wood, who said that Auckland light rail would be built by 2021. Well, after $228 million of wasted money, the last Government couldn’t even deliver a single metre for their ghost train. But not just for that; in Auckland they wasted six years when it comes to infrastructure in Auckland, six years of spinning the wheels and paying consultants but not actually getting on and delivering the infrastructure. But it’s not just in Auckland. Here in Wellington, over $82 million spent on “Let’s Get Wellington Consulting”—sorry, Moving. They said “Moving” but, actually, it meant “consulting”. They built a set of traffic lights, the most expensive set of traffic lights in Wellington, maybe New Zealand. But the reality is they didn’t deliver for this city, as well.

They wanted to waste $16 billion on Lake Onslow—$16 billion on Lake Onslow instead of trying to strengthen renewable energy across New Zealand and making sure we have secure energy supply.

And, last but not least, three waters—a billion dollars, but no delivery on that, either. We have a huge mess that we need to clean up on this side of the House. The coalition Government has hit the ground running and we are focused on delivering our 100-day plan commitments to New Zealanders.

I just want to give the House some highlights of some of the areas I’m focused on from the Speech from the Throne that are in the 100-day plan. We have already begun work on rewriting the Government policy statement on transport so we can get on with the important work of making sure that people who use our roads have the potholes fixed and that we get on with delivering the roads of national significance, which this country needs.

To the last Government, the word “roads” was a dirty word. Well, under this Government, we know New Zealanders need safe, high-quality, fast connections between our regions and in our cities, and we are going to get on and build the roads of national significance that this country needs. We’ll also get on and build the major public transport infrastructure this country needs. The last Government talked about public transport; we’re actually the Government which delivers. The last National Government electrified the rail network in Auckland. The last National Government started the City Rail Link; it’s going to be completed by this National Government in this term. We’re going to get the public transport infrastructure delivered which this country needs.

We’ve already cancelled Auckland light rail; the ghost train has stopped. We’ve put an end to this wasteful project, which could have cost taxpayers up to $29.2 billion. There are so many other projects across this country which need to be delivered, and we’re going to deliver those rather than wasting money on a ghost train that the last Government only spent money on consultants for. We’ve withdrawn central government from Let’s Get Wellington Moving, and, by the way, we’ve withdrawn with the other parties also agreeing to that withdrawal, and I want to acknowledge the councils for agreeing to that withdrawal. The reality is even they saw that it wasn’t delivering for Wellington, and that means they can get on with actually focusing on their core infrastructure, like fixing the pipes that they need to be doing.

We’ve axed the ute tax; we’ve axed the tax which was punishing our farmers and tradies to purchase the vehicles that they needed to be able to do their job. And not only was it punishing those hard-working farmers and tradies or families who needed to buy a larger vehicle but it also relied on hundreds of millions of dollars from taxpayers to subsidise the choices of people buying electric vehicles, people who could already afford to purchase those vehicles.

We’ve stopped the blanket speed limits that the last Government imposed on New Zealand. They wanted to slow every single State highway down to 80 kilometres per hour and they wanted every suburban street to be 30 kilometres per hour. Their vision would have been, if they could have got away with it, to have people walking in front of our cars with a little red flag. That’s what their vision would have been if they could have got away with it. We think New Zealanders need to get where they need to go quickly and safely, and we’re going to rebalance the approach to setting speed limits in New Zealand.

We’ve committed to removing the unfair Auckland regional fuel tax—legislation will be coming to the House shortly. We’ve scrapped Lake Onslow, that boondoggle of a project—$16 billion it would have cost—and we’re focusing our efforts on strengthening New Zealand’s energy security by doubling renewable energy by 2050, with a national policy statement on renewable electricity generation soon to come, and many other actions which are going to be needed to ensure that we have a strong and secure supply of energy for New Zealand.

We’ve started work on repealing Labour’s divisive three waters plans and replacing it with Local Water Done Well. The last Government, they thought that co-governance was the answer to our water problems; we actually think it’s about ensuring local councils have the tools to be able to make long-term infrastructure investments and be able to have sustainable funding and financing for that investment. The last Government thought it was a one-size-fits-all solution for local government; we actually think we should be working alongside local government and giving them the tools that they need to address these challenges.

We’re just getting started as a Government and we will continue to deliver for New Zealanders. As part of our 100-day plan, we are fixing the mess left behind by the last Government, but we have so much more that needs to be done. I’m looking forward to getting on and doing that in my role as Minister of Transport, Minister of Local Government, Minister for Energy, and Minister for Auckland. There is so much to do for our country, so much to do for Auckland. I’m looking forward to being part of the team led by the Rt Hon Christopher Luxon, who has brought such a positive spirit to leading this Government and delivering for New Zealanders. Let’s get our country back on track.

Debate interrupted.