0 Quote of the Day - 17 April 2014

Claire Trevett from the Herald gently (or not-so-gently!) mocks David Cunliffe this morning:

Former Labour Finance Minister Michael Cullen's 2006 prophecy of "jam tomorrow" will come to fruition today, although it may not quite be the kind of jam people were hoping for.
It will be a traffic jam.
Realising there are votes to be gained from angry holidaymakers stuck in traffic for hours, Labour took measures to try to harvest them this week by releasing a groundbreaking holidaymakers' transport policy.
Labour has long been driven by a drive to reduce inequality. So it announced it would drop the need to register caravans and trailers and cut road user charges for motorhomes and campervans.
The coup de grace of the policy was the ban on trucks from using the right-hand lane on three or four lane motorways - an attempt to peg into the futile rage that swamps drivers whose aims are thwarted by said trucks.

As "Kiwi families" loaded up their surfboards and fishing rods, David Cunliffe's Caravan of Love was here to help. "Fun can quickly turn to frustration when the family realises the rego for the caravan has expired or there's a big truck hogging the fast lane."
Cunliffe declared, "Kiwis are sweating the small stuff too much."
Somebody else may be guilty of that as well.
The trouble with delivering something to entice voters while sitting in traffic jams is that it also gives them time to think things through to their logical end. Once they get to that end, Labour's policy could well be counterproductive. That logical end is even bigger traffic jams.
Encouraging the use of caravans and campervans by making them cheaper to run is only likely to make those jams worse. It is also debatable whether banning trucks from using the right-hand lane only on three or four lane motorways will make any difference at all. It is not the large motorways, but rather two- or one-lane places such as the Brynderwyns where motorists get stuck behind trucks trying to overtake each other for weeks on end.
Then there was the us and them mentality it risked encouraging. The caravaners can console themselves with knowing that the $34 saving on registration helps pay for the extra fuel used up in hours of idling in those traffic jams. But for bach owners, tent campers and hotel users, banning caravans and trailers altogether would be more beneficial. There is a further blow for bach owners. Not only would they get stuck behind more caravans and motorhomes with happy families inside beaming at the extra dollars in their pockets, but they would also have to pay the capital gains tax Labour intends to impose on baches.

Oh goodness; the mere thought of the words "David Cunliffe" used in combination with "Caravan of Love" is almost enough to cause us to regurgitate our breakfast. We apologise profusely to anyone else who experienced a similar outcome!

But Ms Trevett has made her point extraordinarily well, for which we applaud her. And who knows; if Labour sees a large hole appearing in the National Land Transport Fund, it's Capital Gains Tax may suddenly be extended to include caravans as well as baches!

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.