Kia ora koutou.

It has been a long time since there has been meaningful investment in the infrastructure that our country requires to keep on moving. Therefore it is extremely important that we undertake quick action to ensure that our infrastructure, especially in regional areas is not only fit for purpose, but has the capacity to scale up for new demands that are imposed through our changing climate, and increasing population.

That is why the cornerstone policy of the country party's infrastructure plan will be to begin work on the Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme, which will include raising the lake level of onslow, and the upgrade of the Roxburgh dam to allow for the pumped hydro scheme to replace generation in other hydro schemes in the case of a dry year, and low lake levels. This scheme will be the largest infrastructure project since the Clyde Dam, and Manpouri scheme, and will provide thousands of jobs especially here in Central Otago.

Whilst Lake Onslow is our key infrastructure project, the Country party also acknowledges there is work needed to increase the resilience and throughput of interisland electricity transfer, so we will commit to working towards the investigation and upgrade of the HVDC Inter-Island cable to ensure that the electricity generation in the South Island is able to be used in the north, where much of the electricity demand is located.

In addition, the country part acknowledges that small scale electricity in the north island and south islands would reduce the strain on the inter island connection, so investigations will be undertaken to look into the best way to increase the amount of solar, wind and other generation in the smaller scale which may mean more users are not using grid electricity or able to sell energy back to the grid which can be transferred without as many losses as significant as the generation being located at the other end of the country, these programmes will increase energy security, in an environment where energy demand is likely to increase with the continued decarbonisation of industry and electrification of vehicle fleets.

Finally the country party identifies the significant need for the cook strait connection to be resilient and fit for purpose, which is why we commit to ensuring that the new cook strait ferries are delivered on time, and upgrades at Centre Port, and Picton take place in way that remains affordable, with continued increased resilience to a range of natural hazards. Its is important that this link is maintained.

Kia ora, and thank you!