Why Auckland Airport chaos is the symbol for National’s New Zealand
To be honest, I find the news that there is traffic chaos getting in and out of Auckland airport as hilarious as the bullshit solutions brainfarted out by Auckland Transport and Auckland Airport.
You want to know why there is gridlock around Auckland Airport?
Because we have tens of thousands of migrants, tourists and work/student visa holders all trying to get in and out of Auckland Airport. It’s not the bloody roads or traffic signal issues, we simply don’t have the infrastructure to cope with the massive National Party instigated floodgate opening of migration and tourism.
The gridlock around Auckland Airport sums up everything that has been wrong about National’s immigration and tourist policies. National simply don’t fund the extra social and physical infrastructure for our tiny country to cope with the massive influx of tourists and migrants.
Everywhere you look you can see this underfunding dynamic play out. In the regions where the engines of our economy work, they don’t have the necessary infrastructure to cope. Up north right now there are protests on dusty roads used by heavy trucks because the Government won’t pay for the road sealing. In Auckland housing has become a crisis because of slave labour work-student visa scams. We have schools now that must keep on eye out on their foreign students who are whisked away to be forced into arranged teenage marriages without the services to protect those children.
Everywhere you look, National’s need to inflate our growth rates with slave labour work-visa scams and record immigration is causing our social and physical infrastructure to fail.
Until we seriously crack down on migrant worker exploitation scams and record immigration we will never be able to catch our infrastructure up with the massive population explosion. Auckland Airport’s gridlock is just the beginning of what our future looks like under a National Party fourth term.
Who knew that the interests of property speculators to keep their bubble inflated would impact the rest of us so negatively?
Imagine if we had light rail to and from Akland airport??
Oh dear, that takes too much thinking from those in office, I guess. It’s easier to clog the roads and finger-point blame at each other.
So true
“It’s not the bloody roads or traffic signal issues, we simply don’t have the infrastructure to cope with the massive National Party instigated floodgate opening of migration and tourism.”
Absolutely nail on the head Martyn!
Let’s just say it: John Key bailed before the ship sank. A sly move from smarmy leader. Is National hoping to lose the election so that Labour look bad when the proverbial shit hits the proverbial fan?
It isn’t rocket science you can’t bring 80,000 people a year into Auckland without having some problems with housing and transport especially if you don’t upgrade your Infrastructure?
Ohhh we can’t have lightrail to the airport! Just think how many recent immigrants would loose their jobs as taxi drivers…..just build the fucker and see the cost to travel to the cbd go from $50-80bucks to $5-10 on a train…at take mins not hours to travel! But naaa cant do that, this NZ.
I remember it well, the tiny airport building, the drive along the country lanes, and over the original Mangere-to-Onehunga bridge, and then along Manukau Rd to Newmarket. Hardly a car in sight that evening in 1974.
A little later someone had the brilliant idea of widening the roads in the places where they could be widened, and not widening them where they couldn’t be widened. And doubling the number of cars. And then doubling the number of cars again. I remember it well, how Jenny Shipley told us that importing secondhand cars from Japan was good for the economy. I don’t think she said anything about the air quality, or the balance of payments, or Peak Oil.
Do we still have enabling legislation to take land for the purposes of making a light rail/two tracks corridor, plus park-and-ride space? Let central government act in the best interests of most, for a change.
Or will it be left to the byzantine mysteries of the bureaucrats in the Auckland council structure? (In which case it’s a dead duck. Too many NIMBYs and factions – like an Israeli parliament.)
And cut those ridiculous greedy fares. Someone suggested $5-10. One way. Ouch. No wonder people prefer to take their vehicles.
Make it easy – for parents with kids, oldies, over-packers with a tonne of luggage, foreigners in Auckland (which includes local people from north or south of the Auckland turmoil). Affordable to the lower income people. Utterly reliable.
Think of all the reasons you’d rather go by car – then fix it, Auckland. Make those well-paid seat warmers earn their over the median incomes. PDQ.
PS There will still be people who prefer the taxis, limos, buses, shuttles, and spouses. Enough for all.