Minister Michael Wood under fire from the left and right over the roads.
The Right scream the Minister wants cycle lanes and bus lanes instead of repairing roads.
The Left scream the Minister isn’t building enough cycle ways and bus lanes.
It’s hilarious that National, the Government that allowed the Trucking Industry to put heavier Trucks on the road for the Forestry Industry to ship more and more logs, has a leg to stand on in this debate as their decision to allow heavier trucks has led to the potholes they demand everyone takes photos of.
We are so underinvested for the vast growth generated by the mass immigration policies of Labour and National with no clear plan who is going to fund the infrastructure all that immigration requires.
We need underground and overground light rail all the way down Dominion Rd, all the way down Mt Eden Rd, all the way to South Auckland, all the way to West Auckland and all the way to the North Shore!
We need a new motorway connecting to Wellsford now plus passenger rail!
We need a vast upgrade of all Northland Roads, Coromonadal, the East Coast, the South Island!
We need a new Auckland Harbour Tunnel and we need a tunnel beneath the North and South Island!
We need to nationalise Public Transport and make it free.
We need new inshore Maritime fleet to help shift goods and diminish the political influence the Trucking industry has.
We need new regulation around Forestry, Telecommunications, Trucking industry and drainage industry.
We need a Ministry of Green Works and we need to pay for all this increased State capacity by taxing the rich more!
Sugar Tax
Financial Transaction Tax
Capital Gains Tax
Inheritance Tax
Land Tax
New top tax rate over $300 000
Wealth Tax on those over $30m
We have the tools to fund an increased State WHILE borrowing more at the same time.
This could be a chance to reset a broken Capitalism by removing the yoke of taxation from workers and putting it squarely on the speculators, the wealthy and the polluters.
Make the rich pay for hungry children to be fed, make industry who damage our roads pay for the road damage!
We shouldn’t allow ourselves to be held hostage by the greedy trucking industry! Let’s not forget the damage to our roads allowing their heavier trucks to haul those logs creates in the first place – regulate Trucks off the road!
Why are you all so easy to manipulate into hating cyclists when the Truck is your enemy?
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Yep, freight needs to move back onto rail. Perhaps some financial incentives (ie good discounts) initially for a soft roll out followed up by major change.
If Labour adopts even just one of your big, bold ideas Martyn then they will be onto something.
Imagine if there was another way of transporting bulk freight around the country? Or is railways & costal shipping another technology of the ancients we have lost? You know, like bus driving?
But the taxpayer is happy to subsidize trucking, and loves busted up roads & getting killed by oversized juggernauts. Besides trains & ships are so 19th century.