Anyone who believes Nats’ panicked election bribes I have 10 bridges in Northland to sell you

Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: - 23 comments
Categories: national, useless - Tags: , , ,

National are running about promising this that and the other. No costing on how they are going to pay for it all of course, that level of transparency is only expected of Labour.

For anyone who actually believes that the Nats will deliver on all these promises, have I got a deal for you! I can sell you 10 new bridges in Northland! They’re cheap – real cheap – because they don’t even exist!

The Big Read: Where are Northland’s bridges?

Three of the 10 bridges promised by the National Party two years ago shouldn’t or can’t be built and there are no firm plans for three others, NZ Transport Agency documents show.

Six down, four to go.

Of the bridges where work is soon to begin, there has been a symbolic “sod turning” ceremony at Matakohe which is due to receive resource consent. NZTA is building two bridges and straightening out the road with work expected to begin next month and end in 2019. Construction of the bridge on SH10 at Taipa was also expected to start later this year.

This was typical Nat policy on the hoof – poorly costed, poorly thought out, no consultation. Two years later all that Northland has to show for it is some symbolically turned sod. Excellent.

The current crop of panicked election bribes are just as believable.

23 comments on “Anyone who believes Nats’ panicked election bribes I have 10 bridges in Northland to sell you”

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  1. 1

    Obviously, they were not bridges of National significance but only promises of National significance. Was it panic or just the usual contempt for the electorate I wonder …?

    2. 1.2

      “Was it panic or just the usual contempt for the electorate I wonder …?”

      I’m perfectly happy to consider it was both panic and contempt.

  3. 3

    I drove past Matakohe a while back, there’s a big sign up promoting the new bridge to be built. What struck me was the quite bold statement that the bridge was being built by ‘the Government’ rather than the (usual) NZTA. It seemed a rather unsubtle attempt at electioneering.

  4. 4

    Vote! These National Bastards! Out on 23rd September election day please!

    12th September 2017.

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/election-2017/news/article.cfm?c_id=1504338&objectid=11920629

    What an awesome debate this was as a two hour well planned all around forum with solid emphasis on rail that saw for the first time a truce between the Green Party Transport spokesperson & Winston as both parties clearly as the only ones who were stating to pledge to restore the Northland rail & build the rail to the Northland Port while labour’s David Parker just said they would save it if it was proven “viable”

    This is the very same situation that was said of the Gisborne rail services also.

    As there an chance for you to setup a ‘live screening link’ of the rail forum debate two hour event that soon we can send a link to our communities ahead of the election?
    Thank you very much for staging this fantastic rail debate for us all.

    We are attending a public meeting today in Gisborne at the Cosmopolitan Club at 12.30pm with NZ First & Winston Peters and rail will also feature here to.

    1. 4.1

      Cheers cleangreen glad you enjoyed last nights debate. I have hosted a number of debates over the years, this was quite enjoyable, good debating as it should be across the main parties, a few laughs, some fanatical National supporters mishaving in desperation as the tide has obviously turned, the storming of the stage by a candidate, who actually made a good point which was well recieved.

      Simon Wilson & Lloyd Burr were both tops on the panel. the video is posted in the Grow Northland Rail Group it is a closed group as we don’t want rightwing idiots flame baiting, if ya profile stacks up ya welcome to come in, and enjoy the show, if it doesn’t don’t bother.

      Best of for the Gizzy meeting today my friend 🙂

      https://www.facebook.com/groups/1565622937084642/

  5. 5

    Not only in Northland

    This is from before the 2014 election

    Rotorua Eastern Arterial Alignment
    https://www.nzta.govt.nz/assets/network/projects/rotorua-eastern-arterial/docs/rea-alignment.pdf
    A $100 mill project with quite detailed route

    This was after the election in 2016

    The NZ Transport Agency has confirmed that the Rotorua Eastern Arterial (REA) will not be constructed and that the designation will no longer be required.

    https://www.nzta.govt.nz/media-releases/nz-transport-agency-confirms-rotorua-eastern-arterial-designation-lifted/

    The same applies to schools around the country, promises which are really only to produce detailed plans and the funding of course will never come.

    Dunedin Hospital, that was last election as well. Their DHB has far bigger problems that certainly wont be fixed by a brand new building ( unless its significantly smaller -the usual trick on these things.)
    Currently Dunedin Hospital as 388 beds, it only makes economic sense to build a new hospital if its likely around 270 or so beds.

  6. 6

    Now, be fair. The 10 bridges were to be built if the voters of Northland elected the National candidate. They didn’t fulfil their side of the deal, so no new bridges for them. That’s how bribery works.

    1. 6.1

      …and then when it comes time to collect your bribe, you discover they’ve given it to David Seymour instead.

    2. 6.2

      And let that be a lesson to them, traitorous Northlanders. It doesn’t seem that National learnt much from that election defeat, though. Bribing didn’t seem to work and non-fulfilment of promise and expectation is an electoral killer.

      “Delivering for New Zealanders”, indeed.

  7. 7

    What about the holiday highway. Promised in 2008 Puhoi to Wellsford. Puhoi to Warkworth leg will open late 2021. Tolling still to be decided. God knows when the next leg Warkworth to Wellsford will start and if that will be tolled or not. Northland always the last cab of Nationals rank

    1. 7.1

      Waikato got its new highways without tolls

      Puhoi to Warkworth is only plans, see above for Rotorua’s planned bypass.

      It might get a bypass from the Honey shop to 5km past the beaches turnoff, but thats going to be it.

  8. 8

    I think all of you have missed the subtlety of Nationals master plan.

    The bicycle path is the only real new transport main artery your ever going to get and that’s that. And as for bridges for that cycle-way ?… there’s talk of putting in some rope swing bridges some day .

    So stop your moaning.

    1. 8.1

      Funnily enough I was riding along a Hawke’s Bay Cycle track on a bleak and windy day when I came across Bill English and Lawrence-poison-my-constituents-Yule making these announcements.
      It so happens its a ‘bad’ spot, usually frequented by heavy looking dudes parked up smoking ‘something’ and doing other stuff i don’t want to know about.
      The powers that be had cleaned the spot specially, chainsawed the diseased trees, picked up the broken bottles and piles of dumped rubbish (from the slum up the road inhabited by underpaid orchard workers) and put up a National billboard that was, ironically enough, gone by lunchtime.

      https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/95965828

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