Category: Politics

Source: Radio New Zealand

Finance Minister Nicola Willis has promised to be “frank and candid” in her White House meetings overnight, as she seeks clarity about when the conflict in the Middle East might end.

But Labour said Willis’ plan to ask when the situation would return to normal was “naive to the point of embarrassing”.

Willis spoke to RNZ on Thursday (NZ time) from Washington DC where she is attending the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank spring meetings.

She had just wrapped several days of meetings with her counterparts from the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Germany and the Marshall Islands, as well as key leaders at the IMF and World Bank.

Early Friday morning (NZ time), Willis would sit down with one of President Donald Trump’s key economic advisers, Pierre Yared, and separately, outgoing under secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs, Francis Brooke.

Willis said she would stress New Zealand’s concern about potential fuel supply disruption and to reiterate calls for a “swiftly negotiated end to this conflict”.

“I will be frank and candid that we are many, many miles away from the Middle East, and yet the waves of this conflict are hitting hard on our shores,” she said.

“We’ve already experienced a more than doubling in the price of diesel, on which our economy depends. We’ve seen a downgrade in our growth forecasts. We are worried about inflation.

“I will also be asking the US administration for their views on when this conflict will end, and what they think the ramifications for the global economy will be.”

The Post earlier reported that Willis intended to press US officials over when global conditions might return to “normal”.

Labour leader Chris Hipkins told RNZ that was “naive to the point of embarrassing:”

“The world has changed, and things aren’t going to just go back to normal,” Hipkins said. “We’re going to be dealing with disruption for quite a prolonged period of time. The government needs to be far more realistic about that and show New Zealanders that they have a plan.”

Willis said she would also use her meetings to underline the anxiety of other Pacific nations, which were dependent on imported fuel, given the United States’ interest in the region’s stability.

Asked what commitments New Zealand had made to support its Pacific neighbours, Willis said the government would work with Australia and others to ensure the realm countries – Cook Islands, Nieu and Tokelau – had the fuel supply they needed.

“In the first instance, New Zealand is looking to secure fuel for our own population at home, and that’s why we’re taking extra steps to secure additional commercial arrangements to add to our New Zealand reserves.

“We will also take steps to support the Pacific to ensure that they can access fuel. I’d expect that in the first instance, those would be separate arrangements from those which we have.”

Willis said there had been no discussions with Australia about whether it would need to call on New Zealand’s reserves, nor reason to believe that would be necessary.

She said she had “bumped into” Australia’s Treasurer Jim Chalmers on Thursday (NZ time) and passed on New Zealand’s concern about the fire at one of its refineries.

Willis said all her meetings to date conveyed a “clear and very shared concern” about the economic shock from the conflict, and a consistent view that responses needed to be temporary and targeted.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Finance Minister Nicola Willis has promised to be “frank and candid” in her White House meetings overnight, as she seeks clarity about when the conflict in the Middle East might end.

But Labour said Willis’ plan to ask when the situation would return to normal was “naive to the point of embarrassing”.

Willis spoke to RNZ on Thursday (NZ time) from Washington DC where she is attending the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank spring meetings.

She had just wrapped several days of meetings with her counterparts from the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Germany and the Marshall Islands, as well as key leaders at the IMF and World Bank.

Early Friday morning (NZ time), Willis would sit down with one of President Donald Trump’s key economic advisers, Pierre Yared, and separately, outgoing under secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs, Francis Brooke.

Willis said she would stress New Zealand’s concern about potential fuel supply disruption and to reiterate calls for a “swiftly negotiated end to this conflict”.

“I will be frank and candid that we are many, many miles away from the Middle East, and yet the waves of this conflict are hitting hard on our shores,” she said.

“We’ve already experienced a more than doubling in the price of diesel, on which our economy depends. We’ve seen a downgrade in our growth forecasts. We are worried about inflation.

“I will also be asking the US administration for their views on when this conflict will end, and what they think the ramifications for the global economy will be.”

The Post earlier reported that Willis intended to press US officials over when global conditions might return to “normal”.

Labour leader Chris Hipkins told RNZ that was “naive to the point of embarrassing:”

“The world has changed, and things aren’t going to just go back to normal,” Hipkins said. “We’re going to be dealing with disruption for quite a prolonged period of time. The government needs to be far more realistic about that and show New Zealanders that they have a plan.”

Willis said she would also use her meetings to underline the anxiety of other Pacific nations, which were dependent on imported fuel, given the United States’ interest in the region’s stability.

Asked what commitments New Zealand had made to support its Pacific neighbours, Willis said the government would work with Australia and others to ensure the realm countries – Cook Islands, Nieu and Tokelau – had the fuel supply they needed.

“In the first instance, New Zealand is looking to secure fuel for our own population at home, and that’s why we’re taking extra steps to secure additional commercial arrangements to add to our New Zealand reserves.

“We will also take steps to support the Pacific to ensure that they can access fuel. I’d expect that in the first instance, those would be separate arrangements from those which we have.”

Willis said there had been no discussions with Australia about whether it would need to call on New Zealand’s reserves, nor reason to believe that would be necessary.

She said she had “bumped into” Australia’s Treasurer Jim Chalmers on Thursday (NZ time) and passed on New Zealand’s concern about the fire at one of its refineries.

Willis said all her meetings to date conveyed a “clear and very shared concern” about the economic shock from the conflict, and a consistent view that responses needed to be temporary and targeted.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Cabinet minister Shane Jones is putting pressure on fuel companies to share more information about their shipments, warning that the government could force them to do so via regulation if necessary.

The country’s fuel stocks have dropped in the past two updates, but officials said there was no need for alarm. The Taxpayers’ Union, however, called for more frequent updates and more comprehensive data.

Jones – who is associate energy minister – told RNZ the government relied on the oil companies to regularly provide high quality information and had the ability to regulate if that was not forthcoming.

“I’ve no doubt early next week, we will address this issue and update whether or not there’s further information that they can provide and any reluctance to provide it… we’ll move forward with alacrity.”

Officials would report on whether extra powers were needed to secure that information, Jones said.

“We have not been told to date that is absolutely necessary, but this is fair warning.”

The tone was much more strident than that of Prime Minister Christopher Luxon who told reporters on Wednesday that the government had had “very good engagement” with fuel importers from day one.

“They are sharing a lot of commercially sensitive information to us that’s giving us very good visibility over the picture,” Luxon said.

RNZ has sought a response from Z Energy, BP and Mobil. The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment has also been approached for comment.

Coping with ‘fuel fiasco’

Jones said his “zest” for more information was driven by rising levels of uncertainty in the business community.

He acknowledged the fuel companies were dealing with massive logistical changes and operating in a competitive market, but he said the fuel crisis trumped any “minor confidentiality matters”.

“The fuel companies are nervous that their confidentiality of what they’ve got on the water, the names of the ships, the quantities, may be compromised, but we’re in the midst of a fuel fiasco,” he said.

“The fuel companies have line of sight, and we want to get as much certainty as possible.”

Speaking to RNZ from Washington DC, Finance Minister Nicola Willis said she was satisfied with the quality and frequency of information fuel companies were currently providing.

But she said the government stood “ready to regulate” if it became concerned that data was not being provided in a “timely and uniform way”.

“We’re asking for more information than they normally provide. They haven’t always been as fast in providing it as we would see in an ideal world. But there does appear to be goodwill and an understanding about why we need it. If they weren’t to provide it, then we would require them to, by law.”

Willis said the fuel importing companies had begun sharing “more granular data” about fuel consumption which would be critical if the country shifted up a level in the National Fuel Plan.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Labour’s revenue spokesperson has clarified the only tax policy the party will be campaigning on is its already-announced capital gains tax – and has put her “full support” behind it.

It follows accusations from National that Labour was sending “mixed signals” on its tax policy, after Deborah Russell said there were “good suggestions” in a document calling for changes to the tax system.

On Wednesday, lobby group Tax Justice Aotearoa released its latest Tax Policy Statement, setting out proposals to “rebalance” the tax system.

The policy statement contained proposals including a tax surcharge on big corporates (such as a levy on major banks), a windfall profits tax, closing the shareholder loans tax loophole, moving the top tax bracket to $150,000 (as well as a tax-free threshold on the first $5000 of people’s incomes), a high-wealth tax, trusts tax, and wealth transfer tax.

Labour’s revenue spokesperson Deborah Russell told The Post there were some “really good suggestions” in the document, but “whether or not we would take them all up is a different matter”.

The party has released its tax policy for the election, which comprises a 28 percent capital gains tax (CGT) on the sale of investment and commercial properties from July 2027.

The revenue would be ring-fenced into a proposal to fund three free GP visits a year.

Russell told The Post Labour would “of course” have more tax policy than that, but it would be “centred around the integrity of the tax system and the transparency of it”.

The New Zealand Herald also reported Russell was “comfortable” with the CGT policy but would not say whether she felt it went far enough.

Her comments prompted National’s campaign chair Simeon Brown to issue a press release suggesting Russell had “pulled back the curtain” on more taxes.

“Labour has already announced a capital gains tax that would target households, KiwiSavers, and every single business in the country. Now, Ms Russell has made it clear they are open to going even further,” Brown said.

Labour has previously said the family home, farms, KiwiSaver, and other assets would be exempt from its CGT policy.

The Taxpayers’ Union also said the comments rang “alarm bells” for taxpayers.

“When the person in charge of tax policy won’t rule out going further, it’s a clear signal this tax could expand,” said spokesperson Tory Relf.

Russell told RNZ it was important different groups and people could present their views on New Zealand’s tax system, and while there were some “interesting ideas” in the document, “Labour has been clear that the only tax policy [we] will be campaigning on is our simple targeted capital gains tax, which nine out of ten New Zealanders will not pay.”

Russell said the CGT would shift investment from property speculation into the productive economy, level the playing field for businesses, and create jobs.

“I am in full support of the policy and I am looking forward to campaigning on it.”

She said it was not the first time National had “lied” about Labour’s CGT policy.

“We are absolutely clear that the only tax policy we are campaigning on is our tightly targeted capital gains tax.”

Asked what kinds of things Labour was looking at around the transparency and integrity of the tax system, Russell said it was not a policy to campaign on, and was something all governments were required to do.

“The law requires that the Minister of Revenue protect the integrity of the tax system to ensure the tax system is working as intended. These are usually technical fixes, and something every Minister of Revenue needs to do, regardless of which government is in power,” she said.

Tax Justice Aoteaora spokesperson Glenn Barclay said successive polls had shown solid support for tax reform and properly funding public services.

“New Zealanders realise maintaining the status quo is not an option,” he said.

Barclay said New Zealand was a low tax country compared to many other developed nations, and was not gathering enough revenue to fund “the things that matter for us to live good lives” like fully-staffed hospitals, affordable housing, resilient infrastructure, and nutritious school lunches.

“We rely very heavily on income tax and GST, so working people are carrying more of the load of funding our public services. And our failure to properly tax wealth and big corporates directly contributes to increasing inequality, erodes living standards and opportunities for ordinary people, like working towards owning your own home,” Barclay said.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

The prime minister says his government is “very interested” in rooftop solar, but has given no firm answers yet, amid calls from an energy alliance for the government to use next month’s budget to subsidise rooftop solar for households.

The Smart Energy Alliance told Nine to Noon the case for electrification has never been clearer, with the war in the Middle East, soaring fuel costs, and the shorter term case for importing liquefied natural gas now in doubt.

It was asking the government to help fund up to $6500 per solar set up and battery.

The alliance included Consumer NZ, the Green Building Council, Master Electricians, and the industry body for solar companies, SEANZ.

Asked about subsidising solar to bring down energy costs of households on Wednesday, Luxon said energy policy and energy security for his government was about having a combination of options, which he described as “and and and”.

“We’re very interested in rooftop solar, we’ve done a number of things to make it easier for people to do so, but again it’s about, we want a strategic coal reserve behind – we got 1.2 million tonnes there, because sorry we’re not going to have a dry year risk,” he said.

Asked about the calls from the Smart Energy Alliance, Labour leader Chris Hipkins said now was the time for New Zealand to be accelerating its acceleration to renewable energy.

“We’ve got an abundant supply of renewable energy in New Zealand, we should be harnessing that to lower the cost for New Zealand families. Solar is one of the things we should be increasing our emphasis on,” he said.

Asked if Labour would look at solar subsidies, Hipkins said “watch this space”.

“We will absolutely be focused on increasing installation of solar and batteries across New Zealand,” he said.

Hipkins said Labour had a policy on solar power in the last election, and would continue to have one at the upcoming election.

ACT’s energy spokesperson Simon Court said the party did not support solar subsidies.

“ACT believes that if solar stacks up, Kiwis are going to invest without handouts,” he said.

Court said they were more focused on looking at other regulatory barriers in the energy space.

“And installing the infrastructure that they need to make it work for their household and business, then we should be fixing that and looking at that through the RMA reform and local government reforms to make these things easier to do,” he said.

Meanwhile, Greens co-leader Chloe Swarbrick said it was a no brainer for the government to be subsidising the production of renewable energy right now, particularly when it was distributed – like rooftop solar.

Swarbrick said the Greens proposed a similar policy to what the Smart Energy Alliance was calling for in the 2023 election.

She said the case was strong then and was even stronger now.

New Zealand First has been approached for comment.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Fuel supplies in New Zealand have dropped by three or four days across each type, but remain stable, according to the latest government update.

One small shipment has also been delayed.

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) said that was because of congestion and delays at Singapore’s port because of an increase in vessels there after some other countries closed their export facilities.

“The fuel companies have confirmed that supply chains continue to operate, although these types of delays are likely to become more common,” MBIE said.

The latest figures – accurate to midday Sunday – showed 56.3 total days of petrol, 45.4 days of diesel, and 47.0 days of jet fuel either in country or expected to arrive in the next three weeks.

That was down from the 59.7 days of petrol, 49.1 days of diesel and 50.7 days of jet fuel reported on Monday – which was also a decrease.

Officials said the decrease of three or more days was enough to trigger a phase assessment according to the national fuel plan, but “MBIE’s advice to ministers is that an assessment is not required, as these changes do not raise any immediate concerns”.

Five ships were within two days of arriving, and seven more were within three weeks of arriving.

The next MBIE update was expected next Monday.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Community pharmacists will be able to directly provide some common funded medicines for children, under a new Health New Zealand proposal.

The proposal would mean pharmacists were able to assess a patient, provide a consultation, and supply a treatment, similar to a General Practitioner visit.

Health minister Simeon Brown said the proposal was about making better use of community pharmacies as an option for treating straightforward conditions.

“This means treatment can be provided at a lower cost, rather than paying full over-the-counter prices, or without waiting for a GP appointment,” Brown said.

“It will make it easier for children and families to get timely care for simple conditions, particularly when a GP appointment isn’t immediately available, while also supporting more consistent access to care across the country.”

Health New Zealand had budgeted $5 million for the changes nationwide.

Consultation on the proposal begins on Wednesday, and would allow pharmacists to directly provide:

• Treatment for scabies
• Oral rehydration for children
• Pain and fever management for children
• Treatment of headlice
• Treatment for conjunctivitis for children

The proposal would also allow pharmacists to directly provide treatment for uncomplicated urinary tract infections and the emergency contraceptive pill.

Associate health minister David Seymour said people living in rural and remote areas, or in communities with higher health needs, were finding it difficult to get a timely GP appointment.

“The proposed changes would enable Direct Provision of already funded medicines by Pharmacists as part of provision of Health New Zealand funded Extended Pharmacy Services, in accordance with their pharmacy agreement,” Seymour said.

Seymour, who holds ministerial responsibility for Pharmac, said the drug-buying agency would update its Pharmaceutical Schedule to support the changes.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Community pharmacists will be able to directly provide some common funded medicines for children, under a new Health New Zealand proposal.

The proposal would mean pharmacists were able to assess a patient, provide a consultation, and supply a treatment, similar to a General Practitioner visit.

Health minister Simeon Brown said the proposal was about making better use of community pharmacies as an option for treating straightforward conditions.

“This means treatment can be provided at a lower cost, rather than paying full over-the-counter prices, or without waiting for a GP appointment,” Brown said.

“It will make it easier for children and families to get timely care for simple conditions, particularly when a GP appointment isn’t immediately available, while also supporting more consistent access to care across the country.”

Health New Zealand had budgeted $5 million for the changes nationwide.

Consultation on the proposal begins on Wednesday, and would allow pharmacists to directly provide:

• Treatment for scabies
• Oral rehydration for children
• Pain and fever management for children
• Treatment of headlice
• Treatment for conjunctivitis for children

The proposal would also allow pharmacists to directly provide treatment for uncomplicated urinary tract infections and the emergency contraceptive pill.

Associate health minister David Seymour said people living in rural and remote areas, or in communities with higher health needs, were finding it difficult to get a timely GP appointment.

“The proposed changes would enable Direct Provision of already funded medicines by Pharmacists as part of provision of Health New Zealand funded Extended Pharmacy Services, in accordance with their pharmacy agreement,” Seymour said.

Seymour, who holds ministerial responsibility for Pharmac, said the drug-buying agency would update its Pharmaceutical Schedule to support the changes.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Former All Blacks captain Taine Randell will stand as a New Zealand First candidate at this year’s election.

Randell played 51 tests for the All Blacks between 1997 and 2002, captaining the side 22 times.

He also had a lengthy career with Otago and the Highlanders, as well a stint with London side Saracens.

Randell is reportedly set to contest the Tukituki seat, currently held by National’s Catherine Wedd.

According to Stuff, Randell’s candidacy was set to be announced last Sunday at a New Zealand First public meeting in Hastings, which was postponed due to Cyclone Vaianu.

The Tukituki seat takes in the Hastings and Central Hawke’s Bay areas.

Despite his Otago connections, Randell was born in Hastings and attended Lindisfarne College.

RNZ has contacted Randell for comment.

Labour is yet to confirm who it will stand in the electorate, which it held from 1996 to 2005, and 2020 to 2023.

In the most recent RNZ-Reid Research Poll, New Zealand First was on 10.6 percent, which would give it 13 seats – five more than it currently has.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

For $200 million the government could reinstate bus network upgrades it previously cancelled in regions now suffering huge fuel price shocks, the Greens say.

Government figures show more than 99 percent of the upgrades Auckland asked for were granted in the National Land Transport Programme (NLTP) for 2024-27 – but the story was much different for other regions, with many having their bids for upgrades rejected entirely.

The Green Party wants the government to immediately consider putting spending into projects it previously rejected considering the fuel crisis.

Transport Minister Chris Bishop says there’s no such thing as a free lunch, and a new draft Government Policy Statement will be out this year.

While the government will “continue to invest strongly” in public transport, he refused to commit to a larger proportion of funding.

The data from his office showed the government approved $95.7 million of the $96.6m (more than 99 percent) Auckland Transport asked for, accounting for about 70 percent of funding approved for new public transport investments under the plan.

Other regions did have some funding approved including Bay of Plenty (under $1.3m), Canterbury (under $9m), Manawatū (under $23m), Otago (under $5.3m) and Waikato (under $4.4m).

But much smaller amounts were rejected in full for the likes of Gisborne ($3.6m), Invercargill ($2.5m), Nelson ($200,000), Northland ($8.2m), Taranaki ($7.4m), Hamilton ($10.4m), Wellington ($25.5m) and Waimakariri ($350,000).

More than $45.3m also remains categorised as “possible – unlikely to be funded”.

All up, the government denied about $14m more funding for bus network upgrades than it granted.

Greens call for review

Green MP Julie Anne Genter told RNZ that with the fuel crisis biting, improving bus services would make them more usable for those struggling, and called for the government to urgently take another look.

“We’re in an urgent crisis right now where people need real alternatives to relying on their petrol or diesel car to get around. The least the government could do is go back to these councils who did all this planning and consultation and fund those services.”

Genter noted the $153m in rejected projects was about the same as the cost of the geotechnical scoping work the government paid for a second Mt Victoria tunnel in Wellington.

She acknowledged not all the projects could be immediately implemented – but said much of the work was already done by councils.

“It’s possible not all of the projects could be stood up in a short period of time, but they should be looking at anything that could be done in the next few months. This could be a very long-term issue with the higher oil prices and public transport makes sense anyway to invest in.”

Bishop said it would not be so easy.

“The Greens sort of seem to be assuming that you could automatically expand services tomorrow, or invest in infrastructure tomorrow – that’s simply not the reality.

“There’s always demand for services that can’t be met in terms of funding and there’s no such thing as a free lunch. There’s a limited amount of money, tough decisions have to be made always, and I appreciate that there are services that people would like to see run but not all of them make economic sense.”

He said decisions on where the funding went for bus network improvement were not made by ministers, but rather the Transport Agency – according to “a metric around what is accepted and what is not”.

Genter suspected the reason Auckland benefited far more than other regions was because the government viewed public transport as valuable only for reducing congestion for drivers.

“The reality is, in small or medium towns people could have a real choice if the government would bring the co-funding to the table, $200 million is a very small amount in the context of the National Land Transport programme … in fact, it’s 0.6 percent, it’s a tiny amount.”

“For example when they dropped fares in Queenstown – simplified the network, increased bus frequency – they had a massive jump in ridership, and that is a relatively small, rural area … but to do that, it requires government to step up.”

A closer look at some regions also shows that as a result of the Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport 2024, councils were required to cut or curb projects to even be eligible for continued baseline funding for buses under the NLTP.

These examples never amounted to the bids for co-funding rejected by the government, because the councils were warned they would likely fail.

Taranaki

An Official Information (LGOIMA) response shows a “profound impact” on services and public confidence over the scrapping of about $11m in funding for a “transformational” bus network redesign in Taranaki.

The upgrade had been approved under Labour after three years of consultation, but “following changes to national transport priorities reflected in the Draft GPS 2024, [the council] was required to realign its public transport programme to a value-for-money and efficiency-focused framework”.

“Taranaki’s public transport contracts had not been comprehensively renewed for approximately 12 years, and cost increases … were unavoidable,” the response from Taranaki Regional Council said.

“As a result: No increase in service frequency could be implemented; cross-town services could not be introduced; evening and weekend improvements were limited or reduced; network coverage expansion was not possible; public transport outcomes fell materially short of community expectations.”

The council said it re-scoped the business case from the “gold service level” goal it had expected to reach.

“Under current funding settings, [the council] is unable to achieve even the bronze level, which represents the most basic uplift in service provision.

“The inability to deliver even basic service improvements has resulted in a significant gap between community expectations and actual outcomes, and a loss of public confidence in the public transport system.”

Dunedin

A proposal to improve public transport in Dunedin was also withdrawn and never consulted on by the Otago Regional Council after the government indicated no new funding would be available.

An investment proposal shows officials recommended consultation on four options for more frequent buses while keeping adult fares at $2 be rescinded because the council “has been advised that the likelihood of receiving endorsement … is very low in the current funding environment”.

The revamp proposed buses every 15 minutes on main routes, 50-cent fares, and expanded hours of operation – putting an end to a situation where many Sunday services’ final bus departs before 6pm.

An “early ‘rationalisation'” of those problems could have led to “almost wholesale enhancement of the network”, the council officials wrote.

Former councillor Elliot Weir told RNZ the plan had already been watered down in negotiation with the previous Labour government, and while some were published in the council’s long-term plan they were not implemented.

“My understanding is none of those improvements got approval because that would cost … we only got co-funding at essentially at our existing ongoing levels for our current services.

“It’s, I guess, better than nothing because they were threatening to potentially not even agree to co-funding at the current service levels.”

Weir said the government could publish a new GPS “tomorrow” which could remove some of the restrictions councils faced in providing more efficient bus networks, and if co-funding was provided, some changes could be made quickly.

“You could start implementing a lot of those increases or do anything on the fares pretty much instantly, and then slowly over time roll them out. Because that those frequency increases have been approved in the public transport plan, they really just are waiting on funding to be available.”

Differing political priorities

Genter said the Luxon government’s focus on cutting costs had “caused a lot of chaos for ideological reasons, but now is a time when we’re as a country facing this fossil fuel crisis – it’s time for constructive, practical solutions”.

Bishop pointed out spending on overall public transport had increased to $6.4 billion in its 2024-27 National Land Transport Programme, up from the previous $4.9b spend in Labour’s last term.

“That’s before you even count things like investment in the level crossings that we’ve committed to in Auckland, and the expansion of Metro Rail services … we’ve purchased new trains for the Manawatū train line and the Masterton train line in Wellington, for example. So we stand by what the government’s doing.”

Genter acknowledged the increase, but said much of that was because of cost increases – and pointed out nearly all the funding for bus upgrades had gone to Auckland and Manawatū.

“There are councils right across the country that worked up good new network improvements, and the government can fund those in a relatively short period of time.

“Every step we can take to make it possible for people to save petrol and diesel is going to be good for the cost of living, for the people who can benefit from it, and good for the country.”

Bishop said he was working on a new draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport out for consultation by the end of the year, set to take effect in 2027.

“I’m not going to get ahead of decisions that Cabinet will make, but as I say, we’ll be doing some hard thinking around this.

“What is important is that we continue to invest in the transport network, both from public transport, but also in terms of road maintenance and in terms of expanding road roading, which is what we’re doing through the Mount Vic project.”

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