0 A flip-flop on the u-turn

You couldn't make stuff like this up; check out Gerry Brownlee's presser, via Scoop:

Hon Gerry Brownlee
Minister of Transport
17 July 2014 Media Statement

Another Labour U-turn on Puhoi to Wellsford – that’s a 360!

Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee says Labour’s Northland list MP and candidate for Te Tai Tokerau, Kelvin Davis, must be alarmed at what a pernicious viper’s nest his party has become.
“Three days ago it seemed Labour had seen sense on the $1.38 billion Puhoi to Wellsford State Highway 1 upgrade, one of the Government’s seven Roads of National Significance,” Mr Brownlee says.
“Their transport spokesman Phil Twyford clearly told The New Zealand Herald Labour would no longer axe the road, merely postpone its construction.
“This was a huge change of heart from Labour, but a sensible one, as the road is supported wholeheartedly by every regional authority from Auckland to Cape Reinga, and the vast majority of the people who live in the far north.
“It was also a big boost for Mr Davis, who had bravely spoken out in favour of investing in greater resilience for Northland’s infrastructure following this week’s damaging storms.
“But 72 hours later Labour’s Auckland-centric powerbrokers have told their plucky upstart from the sticks to get back in his box.
“In an interview with Duncan Garner on Radio Live this afternoon Phil Twyford made it clear that when he says postponed, he means never – under Labour the roading lifeline to the north is a goner.
“The message for the people of Northland is clear: with $1.66 billion worth of roading projects already committed to the far north, the only major political party offering the sort of first-world infrastructure that will see you deliver on your abundant potential is the National Party,” Mr Brownlee says.

Apart from the good folk of points north of Puhoi, the big loser here is Kelvin Davis. Labour has just pulled the rug out from underneath Davis, almost guaranteeing that Hone Harawira will retain Te Tai Tokerau, and almost guaranteeing that MegaMana will be in the 51st Parliament. But the way that Labour is polling at the moment, Mr Davis may struggle to get in off Labour's list.

This flip-flop followed by a u-turn is a slap in the face for the people of Northland. The latte-drinking academics in Labour don't care about them, regardless of their platitudes about regional development. Instead, they will continue to make snide comments about the "holiday highway", forgetting that this is a vital link for Northland to Auckland and points south. 

Is it any wonder that Labour holds no electorates whatsoever north of the Auckland Harbour Bridge? When push comes to shove, Labour doesn't care about the roading needs of the people of Northland.

This is Labour's reaction to two dreadful poll results; a complete 360* two-step turnaround in the space of just four days. Can you imagine what a disaster it would be if they somehow won the Treasury Benches in two months time?

0 Holiday Highway, Holiday Highway, Holiday Highway, Great Idea!

Is the no policy that Labour will not flip-flop over? It would seem not.

And the latest flip-flop is over the Puhoi to Wellsford upgrade to State Highway One north of Auckland; that piece of road known by opposition parties as the Holiday Highway. Here's a potted summary of Labour's opposition:

• 2011 - Phil Goff wants it scrapped
• 2012 - Phil Twyford calls for the Government to "take a hard look" at the road, because it doesn't stack up.
• 2013 - Labour continues to oppose the road, and Holiday Highway bashing continues unabated

Since before the 2011 election Labour's opposition to Puhoi to Wellsford has been constant. What you see above is only a small sample of "anti" stories.

But now, led by renegade List MP Kelvin Davis, Labour has done a back-flip, prompting this presser from Gerry Brownlee:

Gerry Brownlee

15 July, 2014

Labour’s panicked U-turn on the road from Puhoi to Wellsford

Backed into a corner and on the wrong side of public opinion, Labour is making up major policy on the hoof with its announcement it now supports the Puhoi to Wellsford Road of National Significance, Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee says.
“The brave but sensible stance of Northland list MP Kelvin Davis to stand up to the Labour leadership and state the obvious – that most people in the north support the Puhoi to Wellsford upgrade of State Highway 1 – has led to an immediate U-turn by his party today with the statement by Labour Transport Spokesman Phil Twyford that Labour would no longer cancel the road, but postpone its construction,” Mr Brownlee says.
“This is a spectacular U-turn for Labour, and as with all such maneuverers there is significant risk, and the potential for unintended consequences.
“For Labour it now raises the huge question of where the money is coming from for its commitment to immediately begin building Auckland’s City Rail Link.
“National is committed to co-funding construction of the rail link on a schedule that will see it delivered ahead of when Auckland City’s own research says it’s required.
“Labour was going to fund construction of the link from next year with money the Government has committed to building the Puhoi to Wellsford highway.
“Now it has to tell the people of Northland how long they’ll have to wait for their much-need highway upgrade, and where the $1.38 billion will come from to build it.
“That’s assuming Labour is still committed to beginning construction of the City Rail Link next year.
“Or does Mr Twyford have as big a surprise for Aucklanders today as he just delivered to the people of Northland this morning?
“Labour’s policy processes are woefully inadequate and clearly reliant on knee-jerk reactions,” Mr Brownlee says.

 

Gerry Brownlee is right; this is knee-jerk politics from Labour and especially from Phil Twyford. Alfred Ngaro will be looking forward to Mr Twyford telling the good folk of Te Atatu they won't be getting better train services any time soon.

 

Whilst we welcome this particular u-turn by Labour, it is a u-turn nonetheless. But with Labour v2014, that's par for the course. Why would we expect anything else?

0 Another kicking for David Cunliffe

David Cunliffe has made himself an easy target for Gerry Brownlee. The Transport Minister has delivered another dismissive presser about Cunliffe's transport policy announcements yesterday, and the misinformation the Labour leader is trying to peddle. The Beehive website reports:

Now David really has some explaining to do

Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee says Labour leader David Cunliffe has got himself in the most astonishing predicament on TV3’s Firstline this morning, by claiming the National Land Transport Fund is “going to be in surplus very soon,” so it’s time to give some of it back to taxpayers.
“We know Mr Cunliffe is under significant pressure from his own caucus, having announced policy on the hoof yesterday without telling the team back at Labour’s war room,” Mr Brownlee says.
“Now, when asked by the media this morning to explain where the forgone revenue from this policy would come from, Mr Cunliffe has resorted to making things up, presumably thinking no one would call him on it.
“The fact of the matter is the National Land Transport Fund is by its very nature incapable of achieving a surplus, or a deficit – it is what it is.
“This is an ongoing fund which is used to fund the National Land Transport Programme, which for the years 2012-2015 will see $12.3 billion invested in road building, road maintenance, public transport, and which includes $300 million a year for targeted on-road Police enforcement.
“The fund might be above or below forecast at any point in time due to factors like the performance of the domestic economy, or fuel prices, but this is a dedicated fund, with all its money coming from Road User Charges and Fuel Excise Duty on an annual basis.
“All of that money is spent on New Zealand’s roads and public transport through the National Land Transport Programme; the question of surplus or deficit simply never arises.

Oh dear. David Cunliffe really has painted himself into a corner with his policy-on-the-run, and this again shows that no one is doing the necessary policy detail work to give Cunliffe adequate information. Either that, or Mr Cunliffe has ignored the advice given to him by Labour's policy wonks, and has shot from the lip, as is his wont.

Brownlee's demolition job continues:

“What’s more, thanks to changes in driver behaviour – in particular more efficient use of vehicles by large transport fleets using GPS technology – and increasingly fuel efficient vehicles, there has been greater financial pressure on the National Land Transport Fund in recent years, not less.
“Despite that, over the past six years this government has invested more in our land transport system, following a sustained period of under investment, and that’s just starting to pay off for all New Zealanders.
“We know this is increasingly difficult territory for Labour.  They don’t want to talk about building roads because they don’t want to offend their Green coalition partners.
“But if Mr Cunliffe believes there is a surplus to be had in the National Land Transport Fund, he needs to explain what bits of the fund’s programme he is going to cut.
“If there’s some mystical way of creating a surplus inside the National Land Transport Fund without cancelling planned investment, David Cunliffe needs to tell us.
“I’d love to know what document he has seen that suggests this fund has, or will soon have, more money than it needs.”

This really is too easy; like shooting fish in a barrel. On a day when Labour should be going into the House with all guns blazing, David Cunliffe's ad hoc transport policy is under broad attack.

Mr Cunliffe really does have to smarten up his act. If he is going to roll out policy, he needs to be able to back up the bare bones policy with detail, and not flail around like a fish out of water.

0 Labour's transport policy demolished

Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee has driven a truck through Labour's transport policy announced this morning; the Beehive website reports:

More trouble with Labour’s transport policy

Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee says Ministry of Transport analysis of Labour’s new policy for taxing motorhomes shows many motorhome owners would actually be charged higher Road User Charges under a Labour government than they are presently, not lower, as Labour’s leader claimed this morning.
“This is frankly remarkable – I’m not sure if David Cunliffe is being tricky or if Labour is simply a shambles,” Mr Brownlee says.

We think it's possible both Gerry Brownlee's scenarios are true; David Cunliffe seems to be in a perpetually state of trickiness, and we know that the Labour Party is a shambles, with deep division between warring factions.

The rest of Brownlee's presser explains how David Cunliffe and Darien Fenton have got their sums wrong; you can read it here.

In the meantime, we don't think attacking truck drivers is going to be a vote-winner for Labour. They tried that in 2008, and it went spectacularly long as truckies brought their big rigs to the Beehive in protest; remember this?

So much for Labour being the party which represents working New Zealanders, like truck drivers; what a clustertruck this has become!