In a sign of desperation Bill English rang Winston Peters on the weekend but the call was not answered. Clearly National realises that waiting for the special votes to be released will significantly weaken its bargaining position.
Designing policy for a low carbon world and good lives, the Greens are standing strong in the need to act now on climate change.
The Green Party will save families and students money, reduce pollution, and make it easier to get around Wellington.
In just a couple of month’s time the Greater Wellington Regional will start an $11m project to dismantle the trolley bus system. Council Tramways Union Vice President Chris Morley talks about why light rail for Wellington is unlikely to ever happen, and why it doesn’t need to.
Trolley buses make sense for the environment and for people who drive them. But in just a couple of month’s time the Greater Wellington Regional will start an $11m project to dismantle the trolley bus system. Council Tramways Union Vice President Chris Morley writes about why this is a huge mistake.
National has let regional rail services rust away but the Greens in government will restore rail as the backbone of New Zealand’s transport system, for freight and for people
A list of Labour’s announced policies to date and an easy way to compare them to other parties’ policies.
Labour has announced its Auckland Transport policy.
In an attempt to take the thunder away from Labour’s Auckland Transport announcement National’s offer was leaked this week to the Herald. But it is uninspiring, and shows a continued commitment to roading as providing a solution.
National appear to be completely uninterested in spending Aucklander’s transport taxes on Auckland. Instead they want to put in roads that have no economic measurable benefits for Auckland except to increase the road congesting trucks on our roads. Why do National hate Auckland?
A 21st century city simply has to have integrated, multi-modal public transport at its heart.
The pace of change in transportation may mean that some time soon private ownership of petroleum cars may disappear.
The same study that trumpeted Wellington as the most liveable city in the world, has Auckland as the 3rd most expensive for Public Transport, behind London and Dublin.
It’s too hard! We’ll do it later! Auckland airport rail is just the latest example.
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter will be standing in the Mount Albert by-election to be held on 25 February
Andrew Little has just announced that Labour in Government will accelerate the implementation of light rail in the Auckland Istmus.
So often we lose sight of the fact that local government is about much, much more than rates. We’re launching a Jobs That Count ticket to change that.
Part III of IV – a focus on road transport.
The Government’s proposal to allow hybrid vehicles to use bus lanes is not only crazy but they did not talk to local authorities before doing so.
When it is a variable network pricing mechanism …
A fully laden logging truck tears up the road like thousands of cars. And when they keep rolling over around the corner, locals get very nervous and upset for themselves and their kids.
John Key has announced that National will bring forward funding of Auckland’s inner city rail link. The decision is welcome but it should have been made years ago.
Ad discusses Auckland transport projects likely to be introduced over the next 12 months.
The text of a speech Andrew Little gave to the Committee for Auckland about Auckland’s future.
What can be done to reduce Auckland’s residential rates take to make Auckland City a fairer, more sustainable and more affordable city?
Auckland Council’s budget which should have been passed on a pro forma vote succeeded this week by the narrowest of margins with a transport levy that Sky City pays the same amount as a Piha resident and where the share of rates that business pays continues to decrease. Time to rethink supercity?
A respectful open letter to Andrew Little with suggestions for how to win the next election!
From the I kid you not files Mike Hosking believes that Auckland Council is to blame for the housing crisis, not immigration, not favourable tax conditions for landlords, not the global financial crisis and not the lack of restrictions on home ownership. And he believes that Nick Smith should step in and Roll Auckland Council.
Yesterday it was announced that Auckland is the ninth least affordable city in the world requiring 8.3 times their average wage to buy a home. Reducing regulation hasn’t worked, otherwise more than 20 homes would have been built under the 2013 fast track accord. The problem is a shortage of affordable housing.
Public transport traffic in Auckland keeps growing by large 7.7% per year. Car traffic despite all of the motorway and roading improvements grew by just 2.3% in the whole period of 2006 and 2013 amongst commuters. But our current idiotic National transport minister wants more roads? And won’t let Aucklanders decide what they should do despite them voting with their AT Hop cards.
… with pre-election day fervour. It’s an election that’s going down to the wire. The energy is there for the left to keep talking to people, and to encourage as many as possible to get out and vote. It’s Suffrage Day – reporting via the telegraph in 1893 to the internet today. On-going updates
There’s a strong element of planning for the future here: peak oil and climate change mean the days of cheap cars (and therefore of massive motorways) are numbered. But it also reflects the changes we’re seeing now. Road usage is already dropping, while Aucklanders are crying out for a better rail system so they can escape gridlock.
National has been sucking billions of dollars out of the provincial road maintenance budgets to throw into “Roads of Significance only to National” since 2009. In the latest round, maintenance costs for roads mostly used by trucks will drop to an average of 52%, with the small populations of ratepayers expected to subsidize trucking firms. Is it any wonder that they’re looking at National’s token gesture over the weekend with disdain and anger. Meanwhile the urban centres aren’t getting the public transport they need.
There is one thing that shines through in the coverage of the biography of John Key today. It is by a veteran arselicker of the right – John Roughan, veteran editorial writer and columnist for the NZ Herald. He is someone that have have no respect for because his writing has a short-term approach to Auckland that is more characterised by stupidity and a rabid adherence to National’s partisan campaign needs. Both as an anonymous editorial writer and in his columns.
Almost a week after last week’s storm, some people in West Auckland are only just getting their power back on, while others are still without hot water. Some parts of Auckland’s west are becoming increasingly neglected under John Key’s watch, especially since the centralising-moves following Hide’s blueprint for the “supercity”.
