Government unveils $20b transport plan – but fuel taxes going up 12 cents to pay for it
The Government has unveiled a $20b transport budget for the next three years, boosting road maintenance, public transport and cycleway investment.
But the kicker is that fuel taxes are going up for the first time since they were frozen in 2020. They will go up 12 cents a litre over the three-year budget, phasing in with a 2 cent a litre hike in the first half of the first year of the budget, followed by another 2 cent hike in the second half, and four cent hikes in the years after that.
It will take national fuel taxes on Unleaded 91 to about 90 cents a litre – or about $1 in Auckland, thanks to the Auckland Regional Fuel tax. National and Act have come out against the fuel tax hike.
Labour was criticised for showing how they intend to pay for roads and more public transport infrastructure with a fuel tax.
It’s almost as if Kiwis don’t understand that the age of feckless pollution and underfunding infrastructure has to be paid somehow.
National on the other hand released a load of un-costed bullshit roading policies that didn’t include any public transport infrastructure which of course is the worst type of investment BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO BUILD AND FUND MORE PUBLIC TRANSPORT so as to take people out of their cars so that those using cars aren’t gridlocked!
WHAT! PART! OF! THIS! DO! YOU! RIGHT! WING! MORONS! NOT! UNDERSTAND!!!!
You can’t just build fucking roads, you have to build roads with public transport infrastructure built into those roads so people don’t have to take cars so that those who do need to take cars aren’t gridlocked!
What is most moronic about this entire debate is that it is occurring while the planet is boiling and for many on the Right, climate change is an existential crisis to their belief system and so climate change is either a socialist lie or overblown.
As the country is hit by enormous climate change storms that damage our roading infrastructure, National and ACT, the two political parties funded by climate change polluters and who are the biggest climate change deniers, are promising to do nothing more than feed climate change rather than adaptation.
National has no plan on the Climate because they are utterly dominated by Corporate Dairy…
Election 2023: National’s concerning lack of climate policies
The party has announced roughly 30 policies thus far, with Luxon making up in 2023 for a rather policy-light first full year in 2022. So far, however, there is precious little in the way of emissions reductions policy.
The Herald put that allegation that the party was light on climate to the party’s Climate Change spokesman Simon Watts, who said it was a bit “biased” to call National out for a lack of climate policy. He said National was the only party to release an agricultural emissions policy, for example.
There are several shades of wrong with this.
National does have an agricultural emissions policy, but it’s only to to delay the start date at which agriculture will pay an emissions price to 2030, from Labour and the Greens’ date of 2025.
It’s a sort of un-policy – a policy to undo a policy. It won’t reduce emissions.
…your anger at co-governance and the Government is being manipulated by Corporate Dairy while the Shire burns you silly sleepy Hobbits.
ACT and National will destroy our climate change response in exchange for their corporate polluter mates while Labour and the Greens will keep failing to make any meaningful change…
…what is happening across the planet is a death shroud of heat, a burning furnace that is but a glimmer of things to come.
You understand, it just gets worse from here on in.
60 000 died in Europe last year from heat, expect those numbers to start jumping dramatically from here on in.
Climate change was a theoretical issue that might impact us at the end of the century, the last 12months has shown how wrong we were.
Extreme catastrophic climate events will hit faster than our ability to rebuild, this will interrupt the agricultural cycle and cause enormous climate refugee issues.
National and ACT have promised to roll back any environmental policies that constrict Business making money and will keep their Farmer mates out from having to do anything.
Both Parties will trash public transport, both parties intend to remove healthy home requirements.
If they win, it will mean the Agricultural industry have managed to avoid any restrictions for quarter of a century.
Labour and the Greens have done bugger all but the pittance they have done will all be stamped out and a National and ACT Government.
We are living in denial, National and ACT are the Parties of climate denial, they are the Parties who have done all they can to pretend global warming caused by man made pollution isn’t happening and if they win in October, just as the planet plunges into a climate change doom spiral, they will be adding fuel to that fire rather than trying to stop it.
We deserve everything that is coming.
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Buses and EV cars and trucks will all need roads and the ability to get from A to B without getting snarled up in traffic.
Our main cities are the only ones that have enough population for public transport to be efficient both in timing and cost .
Good well made toll roads will help with productivity and climate change and not break the govern of the day.
I agree 100%.
So wonder no more what you were going to do with all that extra money due when GST comes of fruit and vegetables.
So New Labour will keep the collapsing, backward transportation system on life support by… increasing a regressive tax that falls on the backs of the poor!
No plan for high-speed rail. 71 of 72 tramway lines to remain inoperable (8 of 9 cities). No plan for the 7 inoperable suburban rail lines (Christchurch/Dunedin), or the mostly inoperable inter-provincial rail system (20+ mothballed lines). Most of the inter-provincial highway system to remain as single carriageways. What a pathetic plan!
We all know based on the last 6 years, Labour won’t build anything! Sure as night follows day!
What part of the progressive left don’t understand that public transport has declined significantly under their useless governance! I realise the Greens are down with the kids getting pronouns sorted and hating on cis white males but what about their so called core business? Where is that, if it ever existed?
Entire Auckland ferry services now deleted, like our pre 1980’s, others markedly reduced, the eastern rail line and all its stations closed since March 2023 and I can tell you the so called maintenance on that is so piecemeal and glacial slow, And it still won’t be fixed. And still no hint of this third main line Labour promised! . And for their coup de etat, bus services deleted. Patronage is now well lower than 6 years ago. Even half price fares could not tempt many more people on to this “system”! And where the fuck is this light rail to Mt Roskill by 2021? Where?
It will not be long until the cobbled together wage subsidy for drivers falls apart because the only system that existed was Michael Wood throwing tens of millions of dollars at it from who knows where?
In other words, if you wan’t something and believe in it so much, make it happen or get the fuck out and leave it to the adults.
If this progressive nirvana is the answer long live oil and V8 personal luxury cars!
Labour has zero credibility in anything now.
This country needs a hard reset.
If that means suffering through a Nat/ACT government while Labour go away and think about their mistakes, so be it.
Jack, whst a stpid, fucking reason. Vote hard right. How about the lesser of two evils you moron?
Voting in the same people and expecting a different result is moronic.
If you can’t see that Labour cannot be rewarded for their failures even when they had a once in a lifetime mmp parliamentary majority then it is you who is the moron.
They need time on the bench to take a good fucking look at themselves.
Voting in the same people who were in Key’s govt. and expecting a different result is moronic too.
That would be rewarding them for their failures.
There aren’t many new people and those who are, Luxon, Uffindell etc. do not inspire confidence.
While Labour is off having a hard look at themselves, Luxon’s compromised crew will have sold off the rest of our paltry assets.
That is too big a risk to take. The PPP stuff is scary enough.
Agree Jack
I hear Hilary Clinton’s reset button is going cheap. You can easily wire it up to your brain. Push it and nothing happens
If that means suffering through a Nat/ACT government while Labour go away and think about their mistakes, so be it. Come off it, that is supposed to happen whichever Party is in place – instead it settles into a paaarty.
Music for the occasion – striking just the right note on our political stage!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGNdzQH6JtY
Perpetuum Mobile – André Rieu
This is the right vid: Perpetual mobile machine – very smart and points on how to make your own. Go to it smart alecs – somebody needs to be doing something besides tossing sharpened ripostes at one another and bomb mots.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbsL4W2Kv_8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJ9F23nZaVo
What about raised ‘highways’ – as they go above the land, the ground beneath them is in shadow and protected from the burning heat coming down. There could be cool shelters built beneath them that could be used like the bomb shelters in London and Uk generally in WW2. We need to protect ourselves from the killing climate we have created ourselves. Let’s use our smarts that certain people like to glorify.
Of course other things in life will have to be changed, but perhaps we can grow up and enter the Age of Human Advanced Wisdom or Haw, which will be a regularly used comment that we exchange when we want to remind each other of the state we have reached, or when we have achieved some innovation that will help us semi-permanently. Only thinking, inventive, loving people will be able to retain their humanity. But the STEM types can be useful and do well just being troopers, and there will be others who can serve as pongos. (Been looking up the google dictionary for soldier).
National just want to price the poor off the roads, so only the rich can drive on them.
Do not worry Millsy hear Luxon is going to give away free hats so they can doff them as the cars go by .
I don’t want to be critical Countryboy but I honestly can’t understand your diatribes. Can someone please help me. What the hell is he saying? Heat domes? How much again for a bag of sheepshit? What was the conversation about?
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