Green Party policy: Reconnecting Aotearoa
The Greens’ transport policy introduces a quantum leap on climate and public good.
Environment
transport
How Could Labour Pay for Transport Without Raising Fuel Taxes?
Labour has promised it will not raise fuel taxes across the next Parliamentary term. That’s a basic cost-of-living politics move. But it’s going to hurt the transport system.
City Rail Link Is Really About Workers
Plenty of politicians will seek credit when it opens, but none of them will have lifted a spade. The reason New Zealand’s largest infrastructure project exists is because over 1700 workers actually built it.
The cut to Total Mobility doesn’t add up
7 days after petitioning parliament seeking proper funding for Total Mobility, the government instead cut the funds.
National intends to proceed with the LNG terminal and welch on the country’s Kyoto Protocol obligations
National, a party of supposed economic geniuses, will spend billions on an LNG terminal that is not needed, billions on roads of National significance whose business cases are appalling, and attack Labour for a policy that is cheap, will help ordinary people, reduce fuel dependancy and greenhouse gas emissions.
Stop This Madness
Why is Chris Bishop wanting to review the cost of the City Rail Link while at the same time is happy to proceed with roads of national signficance that are very expensive but provide limited financial return?
Luxon is toast
Any time a political leader has to put their position to a vote, they become a dead pigeon. David Lange knew winning the vote didn’t end the matter.
Greenpeace on NZ’s Fuel Supply Resiliency Plan
“True resilience will not come from stockpiling more finite, fossil fuels, but from reducing our reliance on fossil fuels altogether.” – Greenpeace
MCERT V MAF V MBIE V Treasury
The merger of many functions of the central public sector concerned with cities, the environment, housing and urban development, and transport, was announced in the week before Christmas and is now underway. There’s plenty of good on the face of it.
The Tunnels project and SH 1 to Wellington Airport
The plan ignores standard traffic planning practice, takes no account of predicted sea level rise and will be obsolete before the last stone is turned.
Why does National really hate EVs?
The Government has reversed the clean car standard and by doing this has ensured that the country’s car fleet will be less efficient and produce more greenhouse gasses.
Wrecking the country’s climate change response
If you thought that your contempt for the current administration had peaked let me disappoint you. This week they have taken steps to undermine the Climate Change Commission and the ability of the public to influence future emission reduction plans.
More RONS!
National has announced it will be spending nearly three times as much on Roads of National Significance as it campaigned on and has justified dubious investment decisions by changing how benefits are calculated.
The $671 million dollar woman
The Government is trying to spin that cancellation of the ferry contract will cost the country $144 million when the actual figure is at least $671 million.
Clusterfreak
Yesterday’s replacement ferry announcement by Nicola Willis suggests that very little progress has been made in securing replacement Cook Island ferries.
AT is to be gutted
The Government announced reform of AT, effectively conceding that the behemouth National created in 2010 was the wrong structure.
Electric Shock
New Zealand is one of the slowest countries in the developed world to transition from combustion to electric vehicles. The shocks we are seeing in Europe to car makers and car buyers herald more trouble ahead.
Blowout in costs of Roads of National Significance
There has been a major blowout in the cost of the Roads of National Significance with the cost being potentially $10 billion more than National claimed during last year’s campaign.
Ferry crisis what ferry crisis?
The Cook Strait Ferry issue is getting to a critical point. An announcement was expected in July. But it appears that NZ First is digging its heels in about the need tor the replacement ferries being rail capable.
National’s eternal road obsession
The year is 2035 and after the McAnaulty-Sepuloni Government is removed from power new National Prime Minister Simeon Brown makes his first new announcement. Guess what it is?
Maritime Union v Willis
National’s decision to cancel the replacement Cook Strait ferry project is developing into a full blown political crisis for the Government with estimates that it could cost the Crown up to a billion dollars and with further costs to come.
Winston Peters – lazy hypocrite on ferries
My ire was raised this morning when I read a pile of PR drivel from acting PM Winston Peters about the Interislander. If he wanted to be useful looking at “critical part of our infrastructure” – then there are number of better things he could usefully do – rather than chasing headlines.
Mountain Tui: The Kiwirail Interislander saga continues
Nicola Willis’s decision to cancel the Kiwirail i-Rex contract without a back up plan is coming back to bite. As costs pile up for the taxpayer, we have already lost half a billion dollars, but that won’t be the final bill. And there are still no ferries.
Ferry sweary
The Government is in a rather precarious position relating to the contract to replace the ageing Cook Straight ferries, which clearly need replacing.
What the Aratere Grounding Means
The grounding of the ferry Aratere is potentially a political gift to National.
Safer streets or unsafer streets?
The Government is planning to reverse Labour’s previous policy relating to permanent safe speeds around schools. The change will decrease safety and walking and cycling and increase car use. And the upside is?
Power cuts or Powerdown?
Powercuts in a wealthy country like New Zealand don’t make us third world. It’s bog standard neoliberalism which has both impeded upkeep of our infrastructure and blocked meaningful climate transition. Third world is when you can’t afford to fix, maintain and futureproof society. Neoliberalism is when you do that by choice.
In defence of Julie Anne Genter
Yesterday in Parliament Julie Anne Genter lost her cool when Matt Doocey misrepresented what the last Government’s NLTP priorities were. Should she be sanctioned? Or should she get a medal for pointing out that Doocey was totally wrong?
Amateur hour
Government members of the Transport and Infrastructure Committee have managed to vote to support a Labour amendment that would make electric vehicles more attractive but submit a report to Parliament that suggested that the amendment had been lost.
Simeon Brown works to make transport system less sustainable
This week we have seen National confirm it will cancel the Auckland Regional Fuel Tax and this will cause the cancellation or suspension of many projects designed to address congestion. And it has been confirmed that axing the clean car discount has seen sales of electric vehicles plummet. And that electric vehicles will shortly pay more to use the road than petrol vehicles.
Are Road User Charges for every vehicle actually fair?
New Zealand is one of the most car-reliant and petroleum-reliant countries on earth. So how we are taxed to travel on land has huge equity implications.
Why does National hate EVs?
At a time when we need cool heads and leaders who understand the enormity of the problem that is climate change and the consequences of getting our response right we are getting this retrograde culture war from people who should know better.
Just One Term
There is every reason to believe National will be chucked out in 2026.
Highlights quoted out of the National-New Zealand First coalition agreement
Some of the more unusual policies from the National-New Zealand First coalition agreement.
The Greens In Real Government in October 2023
What happens if the Green Party gets 10% of the vote and the top 9 get in. And say they get to form a government. What would Greens in Cabinet look like?
Breathable air in Walthamstow
Back with family in London after Covid’s four years, much has changed. Most notably, the air in Walthamstow is breathable. Thanks to Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan’s emission zone tax, the change is remarkable.