Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Posted on

Multiple Netball NZ board members step down from roles after ‘challenging’ year

Source: Radio New Zealand

The chairperson had served on the Netball NZ Board for more than eight years. File photo SANKA VIDANAGAMA

Multiple Netball NZ board members – including chairperson Matt Whineray – are stepping down from their roles.

In a statement released this evening, Netball NZ said Whineray and board members Pavan Vyas, Stephen Cottrell and Aliesha Staples are moving on after a “a challenging period for the sport and broader netball community”.

The statement said the board members recognised there was “a need for new leadership to enable renewed focus and momentum for Netball NZ”.

Last year the organisation struggled to secure a broadcast deal for the ANZ Premiership, the sport’s domestic showpiece

Then in September it announced that Silver Ferns coach Dame Noeline Taurua was being suspended due to concerns in the high performance environment, sparked by player complaints..

Dame Noeline was eventually reinstated, but calls for ‘heads to roll’ at Netball NZ came from many quarters of the netball community.

Jane Patterson was hired as interim chief executive last month, following Jennie Wyllie’s decision to step down as head in December 2025 after nine years in the job.

Whineray had served on the Netball NZ Board for more than eight years, and had been chair for the past two and a half years.

In today’s announcement, Whineray said netball had “long been a sport that is inclusive, accessible and deeply connected to people of all ages and backgrounds”.

“This job has been deeply fulfilling, and it has been an honour to serve New Zealand’s vibrant netball community over the past eight and a half years,” Whineray said.

“The board accepts that the last year has been a significantly challenging time for Netball NZ and the wider netball community and, as chair, I acknowledge there is a need for a change in leadership. To this end, I firmly believe now is the right time for me to step back from the board and allow Netball NZ to appoint a new chair to guide the organisation through an important year ahead.”

A recruitment process will begin in the next week to find replacements for the board chair and board members, who will remain in their roles until those replacements are appointed.

The incoming chair will take responsibility for managing the recruitment of Netball NZ’s new chief executive

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Posted on

Incoming law change so MSD can claw back welfare payments off ACC clients

Source: Radio New Zealand

The Minister moved a motion of urgency to introduce the bill. VNP / Phil Smith

The government has introduced legislation so the welfare system can legally claw back payments when someone has been backpaid for an ACC claim.

Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston moved a motion of urgency to introduce the Social Security (Accident Compensation and Calculation of Weekly Income) Amendment Bill shortly after 7.30pm.

It comes after a significant High Court ruling against the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) on the recovery of welfare payments late last year.

The ruling said MSD couldn’t require people to pay back supplementary assistance they’d received (like accommodation supplements and winter energy payments) once they had been paid back-dated compensation from Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC).

For context, many people claim support from MSD while they wait on cover from ACC and once ACC grants cover, it then pays the person backpay for weekly compensation.

In the meantime, the person may have received support from MSD while they were waiting on cover from ACC.

In these situations, ACC automatically reimburses MSD for the main benefit and up until now, MSD was also requiring people to repay any supplementary assistance payments received during the backpay period.

At the High Court Justice Grice held that while the law allowed ACC to reimburse MSD for the main benefit, it did not extend to supplementary forms of assistance designed to meet essential costs.

Speaking at the bill’s first reading this evening, Upston said the legislation clarified the law on the impact of ACC payments on welfare entitlements, given the High Court decision conflicted with “long standing policy intent and operational practice”.

She said there were two main main cohorts of ACC compensation recipients in the welfare system: people who receive ACC and welfare assistance at the same time and people who receive welfare assistance while they wait for ACC to decide on their entitlement

“Under the current situation, as interpreted by the courts, the latter group, who receive lump sum payments, are treated more generously than the former.

“They are in effect receiving two forms of income support to address one need. This also means these clients can remain eligible for assistance which only beneficiaries receive, such as the Winter Energy Payment.

“This would not result in fair treatment between these groups and isn’t in line with the policy intent.

“The government has a duty to fix this situation and clarify the law, so it aligns with the longstanding intent of policy,” Upston said.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Posted on

Government considers Auckland Harbour Bridge toll to help pay for second crossing

Source: Radio New Zealand

Tom Kitchin

The government is seeking advice on whether to bring in a toll on the existing Auckland Harbour Bridge, to help pay for a second Waitematā Harbour crossing.

The Infrastructure Commission has suggested a toll as high as $9, a figure the Transport Minister says would be a “big decision” to make.

The government continues to mull over its options as to what a new crossing would look like, such as a tunnel or second bridge.

In the newly-released National Infrastructure Plan, the Infrastructure Commission said new revenue would be needed to fund the crossing.

High-level analysis suggested a $9 toll “on both new and existing crossings” could raise between $7 billion and $9 billion, depending on the tolling period.

“Higher tolls may not raise more revenue, as they would divert too many users and erode viability, and tolling only the new crossing would sharply limit revenue,” the Commission wrote.

“Other funding mechanisms are possible, but would likely require non-users to contribute funding which may not be considered equitable or favourable.”

When the bridge was first opened in 1959, motorists had to pay 2 shillings and 6 pence, a figure the Commission said equalled around $9 in 2025.

Tolls were removed in 1984.

Transport Minister Chris Bishop said the new crossing would be the biggest infrastructure project New Zealand has ever done.

While the new crossing would be tolled, a question remained over whether the existing bridge would be tolled as well.

“We are working our way through that. That’s a very big decision for the country to make,” he said.

Bishop said he would not get ahead of any decision, and the government was working through it in a “methodical and comprehensive way” as the Commission said it should do.

“We’re working our way through quite a complicated series of funding questions and financing questions around the second harbour crossing. It will be a very large infrastructure project. All large infrastructure projects have to be paid for. So we’re working our way through that.”

He said “in theory,” a new crossing should be able “wash its own face, financially,” due to the number of vehicle movements.

ACT leader David Seymour, an Auckland-based MP, said $9 per trip added up to $90 a week for some people who would already be trying to pay “tough” bills.

“I think you’re going to struggle with that level of price. But you could imagine that maybe at a peak hour, when it was mostly buses and ridesharing, maybe for a part of the day. But I don’t think making everybody pay $9 with no alternative is going to fly.”

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Posted on

Banks Peninsula still cut off after floods hit Canterbury

Source: Radio New Zealand

Little River Cafe and store owner Cameron Gordon RNZ/Nathan McKinnon

The town of Akaroa on Canterbury’s Banks Peninsula will remain cut off overnight, with State Highway 75 closed because of slips and flooding that swamped Little River.

A local state of emergency was in place for the peninsula, where several hundred people remained without power and many more affected by telecommunications outages.

Little River flooding in Canterbury RNZ/Nathan McKinnon

Little River Cafe and Store owner Cameron Gordon has lived in the settlement for 20 years but told RNZ he had never seen flooding so bad.

“This is the worst, significantly the worst by far”, he said.

“It’s the deepest water we’ve had and the most damage around town as well, no doubt.”

Gordon said the cafe had flooded five times, most recently last May when a foot of water washed through some businesses.

Flooding at the Little River Cafe on Tuesday. RNZ/Nathan McKinnon

“We can’t do much yet, everything’s covered in water. We’re just sitting and waiting, feeling very frustrated and just over it. Well and truly over it. We’ve done this too many times,” he said.

“Our house also floods regularly with any heavy rain. We just seem to be in low land with pour drainage and seem to cop it. We’ll see what happens, see what the damage is and just go from there.”

A boil water notice was in place for Little River and Wainui, while about 250 households and businesses were expected to be without power overnight.

A damaged fibre line meant One New Zealand and Spark services were off-line but Two Degrees was working.

Civil defence chiefs said people should still call 111 in an emergency because it would go through the Two Degrees network.

Little River flooding in Canterbury RNZ/Nathan McKinnon

Little River Campground owner Marcus Puentener said more than 300 millimetres of rain had fallen in the area, twice what forecasters had predicted.

“Two bridges are down, the driveway is pretty wrecked. A lot of water has come down off the road, out of the river and through the camp area,” he said.

“We’re trapped in Okuti Valley. There’s no power in Okuti Valley. There are slips on the roads blocking some residents in and at the bottom of the road there’s at least a foot, if not more, of water blocking any exit.”

Some tourists had international flights to catch but no way of making them, Puentener said.

Further down the road in Cooptown, Tim Wilson questioned whether there should have been more warning or greater urgency.

“This is right up there,” the long-time local said.

“Maybe it should have been a red weather watch instead of an orange but I don’t know if that makes any difference to the outcome. It’s going to be a big clean up.”

Christchurch mayor Phil Mauger said the the council was talking to the government about getting a Defence Force Unimog into the area.

“Cars can just not get through,” he told RNZ on Tuesday.

“It’s just a matter of just being able to get there with emergency services and get people out safely as well, so that’s the main concern.

“As well as getting power and comms on. People are feeling really isolated so we’ve got to sort that out as quick as we can.”

Heavy rain also caused widespread flooding in Christchurch, where the Heathcote River broke its banks.

People who lived near the river in suburbs like Opawa and Beckenham said they were used to the river flooding but the water was lapping ever-closer to their homes.

Stacey Hurst was not one of the lucky ones.

For the second time since she moved to Eastern Terrace two years ago she was mopping up in her garage after floodwater rushed in on Monday night.

Flooding in Eastern Terrace. Tim Brown/RNZ

“Once we realised it wasn’t going to slow down we moved everything upstairs to minimise the damage,” she said.

“We had an almost identical experience last year with about a foot of water coming into the shed.”

The wake from cars driving down the road made the problem worse, Hurst said.

“It just sends a big wave in here,” she said.

Hurst’s neighbours had avoided water getting into their homes but were shocked by the speed at which the river broke its banks, especially because last year’s floods followed days of heavy rain and coincided with king tides.

Georgia Sytema said the water rose quickly.

“This morning our whole yard was flooded, which doesn’t usually happen, it was up into the driveway. It’s a lot higher than usual,” she said.

Emeline Sales was also nervous as the water rose on Tuesday morning.

“We woke up to a big moat,” she said.

“This is the worst it’s been. It came all the way up to my husband’s car, it was quite deep this time around. It was cutting it close this time.

“It was the drains that started flooding first before the river actually broke. We haven’t had issues with the drains before but that’s what caused all the quite intense surface flooding and then the banks broke.”

Sam Guerin moved to nearby Hunter Terrace about three months ago.

He knew his home was in a flood management area and it was part of the reason he and his partner planned to knock down the house and rebuild further up the site.

Guerin said the scale of flooding was worse than anything he had prepared for.

“We were told that in one of the worst floods in the last 10 to 15 years, the water lapped at the driveway but it’s quite a lot worse than that and it happened so quickly,” he said.

“We were told the last time it flooded was before the council had done a lot of resilience measures, so it was surprising for the water to get as high as it did.”

The family had returned from a night out to find the river had burst its banks, the road was flooded and water was rising about 100 millimetres every hour.

“It was a bit of a sleepless night because we were coming out to check it wasn’t getting too close to the floor level and throughout the evening it was up on our verandah deck,” Guerin said.

“It was getting quite high, so that was a little concerning. It was under the house.”

Woolston was also affected, with Clarendon Terrace residents nervously watching the water as it washed over the riverbanks, onto the road and towards their properties.

Emily Jensen said she moved her cars on Monday night because the road had already flooded.

“I haven’t seen it that high up. I’m really surprised by how much flooding there is just after a day’s rain,” she said.

“It feels a little scary because if you were to think multiple days of rain and king tides on top of that, I don’t know what we’d be looking at.

“I would love to know the council are thinking about what to do in these areas because with climate change and everything’s that happening, it doesn’t feel so good to be down here. Five or six years ago we had a really big flooding event but the water didn’t come up the driveway at all, but now it’s coming up so it’s getting worse.

“It just creates anxiety about what you’re going to wake up to.”

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Posted on

Government to clarify welfare and ACC payments

Source: New Zealand Government

The Government is introducing legislation to clarify the law on the impact of ACC payments on welfare entitlement and ensure the process is fair.

Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says the Social Security (Accident Compensation and Calculation of Weekly Income) Amendment Bill will: 

  • confirm the longstanding policy intent underpinning MSD’s approach to charging income, including income from ACC
  • authorise MSD to retrospectively consider a person a non-beneficiary when their backdated ACC payment reduces their benefit to zero for the applicable period, as is current practice
  • reflect the principles of a targeted welfare system; where the more income you earn, the less assistance you receive from the state
  • provide certainty in the law and remove the potential for interpretations of the law that go further than the policy intent, creating inequities between different cohorts of people receiving ACC payments.
  • people who receive ACC and welfare assistance at the same time
  • people who receive welfare assistance while they wait for ACC to decide on their entitlement 

“There are two main cohorts of ACC compensation recipients in the welfare system,” Louise Upston says. 

“Under the current situation, as interpreted by the courts, the latter group, who receive lump sum payments, are treated more generously than the former. 

“They are in effect receiving two forms of income support to address one need. This also means these clients can remain eligible for assistance which only beneficiaries receive, such as the Winter Energy Payment. 

“This would not result in fair treatment between these groups and isn’t in line with the policy intent. 

“The Government has a duty to fix this situation and clarify the law, so it aligns with the longstanding intent of policy,” Louise Upston says. 

Notes to editors: 

  • The bill will be referred to the Social Services and Community Select Committee for one week
  • The need to amend the Social Security Act comes out of a High Court case known as ‘B’ and an earlier decision by the Social Security Appeal Authority, in which a client received a backdated lump sum payment of weekly ACC compensation and MSD sought to recover supplementary assistance paid for the period covered by the ACC payment

The retrospective effect of the legislation will not apply to a small number of cases that have been filed with the Social Security Appeal Authority or the Courts before 2pm on the day of the introduction of the Bill.

Posted on

Wairarapa communities cut off from livelihoods by destructive storm

Source: Radio New Zealand

A large hole has opened up at the Lake Ferry Road bridge cutting off communities in South Wairarapa. RNZ / Mary Argue

Some isolated Wairarapa residents are gutted they are cut off from their livelihoods and emergency services after a destructive storm ripped through the region.

Torrential rain and widespread flooding on Sunday and Monday has washed out the Lake Ferry Road bridge over the Turangaui River – cutting off settlements in Ngawi, Lake Ferry and Cape Palliser.

While crews were preparing to fix the bridge today, the South Wairarapa District Council said that now will not happen today.

Fisherman Lance Maindonald said the timing of the bridge washout could not be worse.

He was meant to be pulling up crayfish, but found himself trapped on the wrong side of the road.

“Bit of a kick in the guts because we’re coming towards the end of crayfish season too, so that costs a lot of money too if you don’t have all your quota caught,” Maindonald said.

Floodwaters have gouged out about a three metre hole in the bridge.

Maindonald spoke with contractors today, and he reckoned repairs to the Lake Ferry Road bridge could take up to three days.

He said this made things difficult for people on the coast.

“I’ve got me son that lives out there in a bach, so we’re just getting them to get their list together, we can chuck supplies over the bridge, keep everyone tickety-boo until we can get access down to the next bridge.”

An RNZ reporter on the scene said this afternoon locals have formed a human chain via a patch of concrete which had not been washed away, and were passing bread, eggs and nappies across the other side.

A South Wairarapa District Council spokesperson said emergency teams were working to get more supplies to the cut off communities.

Ngawi chief fire officer Kerry Hayes said he was concerned about access in an emergency.

“Especially if you need paramedics to come out, how are they going to get here – it’s a helicopter at this stage – so that’s always a little bit of a concern if the roads have been cut off.”

Hayes said residents were a little apprehensive and they needed to be prepared.

Meanwhile, the Hurupi bridge – located further along the South Wairarapa coast – has also been damaged.

Emergency controller Simon Taylor said the main priority for teams today had been contacting isolated residents.

“We just need to understand, are those communities safe? Have they got sufficient supplies to keep them going for seven to 10 days, and until we can actually get roads reopened.”

More than 1000 people are still without power in Wairarapa, and about 2300 in the Wellington region.

In Wellington’s southern suburb of Makara, resident Mike Hanning had his power cut after fierce winds tore down power lines on Takura Gorge Rd overnight on Sunday.

He said the loose lines were dangerous.

“The next pole down three of the four lines are off completely, and are just laying in the paddock, and then we’ve got one line draped across the road that is actually dropped by probably about three metres in the middle, and it’s actually getting hit by the likes of the school bus and trucks that are going passed.”

Hanning said he did not know when his power would be back on, but he had borrowed a generator to get by.

“Thanks to a generous neighbour, we got that last night, otherwise we’d have a freezer full of food that’s going to have to be dispersed.”

Wellington Electricity said it hoped to restore power for most people by this evening.

But it said some fixes to individual properties may not be restored until the end of the week.

Hutt Valley residents spent the morning cleaning up after the Waiwhetu stream became a “raging torrent” yesterday.

On Monday morning, people in nearby Heather Grove people were told to self evacuate if they felt unsafe.

BJ Rauhihi said it was “panic stations” – as the stream broke its banks and water began to swamp the area early in the morning.

“It just started getting worse and worse and then you could see it was starting to fill up the rest of the street but when you look down there, yeah it was like a raging torrent really.”

Chris Kaye said she was helping to clear bark off the street this afternoon.

She said the storm was pretty scary, and scattered a lot of debris on the ground.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Posted on

‘World Rugby needs to help more’ – Umaga on Moana resources

Source: Radio New Zealand

All Black legend and Moana Pasifika coach Tana Umaga is calling for more financial support from World Rugby. Photosport

The Pacific Islands have long been a breeding ground for some of the world’s greatest rugby players – in Aotearoa alone, 40 percent of the playing pool is Pasifika.

But while other nations are happy to pilfer the Pacific for players, the same level of interest is not always shown when it comes to growing the game in Fiji, Tonga and Samoa.

Moana Pasifika – a franchise born to provide more Pasifika players with another professional pathway – no longer receives any funding from World Rugby, a move which disillusions coach Tana Umaga.

“We just want to be on a level playing field around the funding that goes out to all the teams, you can just see what we bring to the competition, world rugby probably needs to help out a bit more, when you look around the world and how many Pacific island players are playing in all these different countries, you don’t want to lose sight of what we represent and what we can do for this game.”

Umaga pointed to the Pacific renaissance in rugby league as a prime example of how the islands can impact the sporting landscape.

“We saw it with Tonga and Samoa who got their best players playing, our Pacific people will get in behind it. We saw it with Moana Pasifika last year, everyone likes us when we come visit because they get good crowds, we are pulling people, we have pulling power and I think that needs to be supported.”

He said it was critical for Polynesian players to be visible.

“You can talk about it, you can’t watch it on TV but if you can see it, touch it feel it, people that look like me, its easier to believe it and achieve it. A lot of our guys come from the backgrounds these kids come from, they think ‘if he can do it why cant I?’ and there is no reason why they cant, its just about getting onto those pathways.”

The former All Black captain said purpose underpins everything the side stands for.

“I feel like our guys understand why we’re here for, we’re very strong around purpose, be that you know your personal purpose or our collective purpose and how that all aligns. They’re under no illusion about what we represent and who we represent. We talk a lot around Pacific excellence and what it takes. What are those sacrifices that we have to make and we’ve made a lot, and we don’t have to look too far from our parents and those around us who’ve sacrificed a lot to give us this opportunity.”

Moana Pasifika picked up a stunning upset win on Saturday, defeating the Fijian Drua at one of the toughest places in Super Rugby to win – Lautoka.

Their next assignment sees them head to the capital to face the Hurricanes who had the bye in week one.

Umaga and his men are weary of the last time they were in Wellington, where they were hammered 64-12.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Posted on

Father and kids flee large slip under their home

Source: Radio New Zealand

A father shouted to his children to get clear of a large slip as it fell away from the base of his home – rendering it uninhabitable.

People in the lower North Island were confronting the damage to their neighbourhoods after heavy rain and high winds felled trees, flooded homes and closed schools yesterday.

Aaron Pahl said he arrived at his home in Stokes Valley – north of Wellington City – after picking up two of his children when their school was closed on Monday morning.

“I was looking from my path down at my backyard and I’m like ‘something’s not right here’. I looked at the ground and it’s just dropped about a metre and a half.

“About half an hour later, I was outside and I heard it start cracking, like all the trees just start cracking and crunching. So I pretty much screamed out to my kids ‘get your arses up here now!’ and I watched the whole thing just slide down the bank,” Pahl said.

The view from Stokes Valley painter Aaron Pahl’s house after a slip left the house uninhabitable on Monday morning. Supplied

Pahl said it felt like slow motion as his back fence, a green house and a section of scaffolding slid down into the valley behind his property, leaving his deck and the rear foundation of his home hanging above the precipice.

He said he estimated an area of yard about 30 by 10 square metres disappeared over the edge.

“It was a pretty big storm, but we’ve never had anything like that happen to us, never thought it would happen. The bank that slipped away had like 30 metre tall manuka trees on it. They were there for forever, massive trees and the roots must have been huge but obviously not huge enough to retain the bank,” Pahl said.

Stokes Valley painter Aaron Pahl says he shouted to his children to get to safety when a large slip fell away from the base of his home – leaving the house uninhabitable -on Monday morning. SUPPLIED

Pahl said the family only had time to grab a handful of personal belongings before they had to leave the property.

Later in the day he heard from a neighbour that council staff had been at the site.

“I went back and there’s letters all over the door saying damaged buildings, do not enter, stuff like that. And then there’s something that says the remedial work has to be done or the building has to be demolished,” Pahl said.

Pahl said the family was now “in limbo” – staying at his in-laws – as they waited to hear how his insurance company could help with an accommodation supplement to house them ahead of any potential repairs.

“I’ve just spent thousands of dollars doing the house up, new kitchen, new bathroom, recarpeting, redecorating the whole interior.

“I’ve spent pretty much most of my free time, doing up my own house so I can sell it to do better for my family. It’s – hopefully – not all lost, but it’s very unclear right now. If that goes down the drain, I’m pretty much screwed,” Pahl said.

A Lower Hutt City Council spokesperson confirmed Pahl’s home had been issued with a dangerous building notice.

They said the building had been assessed as “damaged enough not to be safe to be in” and details of what next steps had to be taken where outlined in the notice to the owner.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Posted on

T20 World Cup Live: Black Caps v Canada

Source: Radio New Zealand

Follow all the T20 cricket World Cup action as the New Zealand Black Caps take on Canada at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

A win will secure the Black Caps a place in the Super 8s, where they will be divided into two groups of four each, and play each other in a round-robin format.

The top two teams from each Super 8s group will progress to the semi-finals.

First ball is at 6.30pm NZT

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Posted on

Political parties already squabbling over infrastructure plan

Source: Radio New Zealand

Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop and Labour leader Chris Hipkins. RNZ / Marika Khabazi / Reece Baker

Political parties are already squabbling over the extent to which either side will back a bipartisan approach to transport projects.

The first ever National Infrastructure Plan lays out an independent roadmap for infrastructure investment in the coming decades.

Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop said the coalition will consider the plan and report back on its formal response in six months’ time.

Labour leader Chris Hipkins said his party had offered to work with the government in the coming months, before criticising the coaliton’s prized Roads of National Significance (RoNS) programme.

The plan pointed out the major transport project pipeline had grown much faster than the funding available to deliver it, with government ambition far exceeding the revenue likely to be available over the coming years.

“It is a fairly carefully guarded criticism of the RoNS programme and it’s a legitimate criticism,” Hipkins said.

“Billions of dollars of investment without proper business cases, without real consideration of the benefits and the costs of those projects. We do need to take that seriously.”

Bishop said the 17 Roads of National Significance had been planned to “shape the nation and drive growth and productivity” and would not be rolled out all at once.

“The construction market cannot cope with 17 roads being built all at the same time and some of them aren’t even ready to be built straight away anyway.

“We’ve always said that they will be sequenced and prioritised in a way that is logical for the market and in terms of deliverability and cost benefit ratios. I think the point the commission makes is a really good one.”

On his call for a bipartisan approach to infrastructure, Bishop said any suggestion Labour had been left out of the loop on the the Commission’s plan was untrue.

“It’s been a bit frustrating to be honest to hear Chris Hipkins, he might have said on RNZ this morning, that the government’s developed a plan that the Labour Party has had nothing to do with.

“They have been briefed extensively throughout the plan. No one may have mentioned that to him, which is an issue for him, but there have been extensive engagements with the Labour Party.”

On a second Auckland harbour crossing, Bishop said he was committed to working on a project that would last beyond the three year electoral cycle.

“I’ve said for a year now that we’ll be making that decision as part of a joint approach with the Labour Party because any change of government will want to see that project through.

“I haven’t had formal advice on it but whatever ends up being built, will be tolled. The question is whether or not the existing connection is tolled. That’s a very big decision and we’re taking advice on it.”

Hipkins said a second Auckland harbour crossing was well overdue and his party would work with the government on a long term plan.

“It’s well and truly time for us to be putting in place active plans to do that. We’re talking about a decade or two to do that. This is a long term project so the more we can approach that with bipartisanship the better for the country.”

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand