In which I chat with Greater Auckland’s Connor Sharp about cycling fan Chris Bishop replacing car fan Simeon Brown as Transport Minister, and what might happen next.
I believe that 89 % of new cars sold in Norway were EVs. So not sure it's a worldwide trend. It does seem a no brainer, particularly of that 1 % bank loan is still available to buy them. Also the new MG4s has a 13 year warranty, over 330 kms driving on a fullish charge and you can plug it into your house should there be a power outage. You can tell I am a fan, right. It's wonderful not smelling petrol or diesel fumes & its saving us a heap of money not visiting the gas station. The current Govt could do so much more in terms of reducing emissions but they don't really care for our future. Lots of EVs on Waiheke as we do short trips but also lots of ebikes. More please!
I still can't believe that Simeon Brown got away with so much craziness in terms of cutting funding from basic traffic calming devices such as raised crossings. And that Warkworth debacle, right. I hate to think what he will do with health but like Connor, I am glad he is far away from my favourite zebra crossings at least. I was ready to fight tooth and nail if he tried to stop the 30 km rule on our windy, little sharrows, on Waiheke!
The intersection in Chris Penk's electorate. He complained about Labour not doing Hill St upgrade fast enough, killed by National's then Transport Death Minister, Simeon Brown.
I got an email from 'Hon' Simeon Brown (then Transport Minister) in reply to one where I questioned raised crossings being removed (replaced by paint) from a Massey, West Auckland, motorway on-ramp upgrade near a school (& also between school & community sport centre) in response to his directions and the reply was 'Good to see'.
I think that Luxon was getting a lot of flack from National supporters, provincial mayors and realised that Simeon was an electoral liability and he needed someone to step into health. Lester Levy as health Czar is a buffer between Simeon and health Senior leadership and they are most probably pretty much aligned.
I think it was obvious that Shane Reti was getting increasingly conflicted about health cutbacks starting with the repeal of smokefree legislation. I don't believe that he had an agenda to go down the US health privatisation model and the fact that he owned a couple of GP practices meant that he wanted to abolish public health. He would have been about "choices" mantra. The thing is that In NZ about 90% (that is a guestimate) of GP practices are private businesses. However they are increasingly getting agglomerated into large practices and it would be very hard for a young Shane Reti to buy a practice. The seeds of all this goes back to the compromise the first Labour government made with the BMA prior to the formation of the NZMA in 1941. But that is another story.
Thanks Bernard. Enjoyed listening to this while having the morning coffee. Connor seems a sensible sort, so that makes two of you.
The downturn in EV sales seems to be widespread, so I don't draw too much specific about NZ in it. Are we running short on wealthy first adopters?
I believe that 89 % of new cars sold in Norway were EVs. So not sure it's a worldwide trend. It does seem a no brainer, particularly of that 1 % bank loan is still available to buy them. Also the new MG4s has a 13 year warranty, over 330 kms driving on a fullish charge and you can plug it into your house should there be a power outage. You can tell I am a fan, right. It's wonderful not smelling petrol or diesel fumes & its saving us a heap of money not visiting the gas station. The current Govt could do so much more in terms of reducing emissions but they don't really care for our future. Lots of EVs on Waiheke as we do short trips but also lots of ebikes. More please!
I know the numbers are inflated by China buying heaps of cars, but 2024 was still the biggest year for EV sales: https://autotalk.co.nz/2024-breaks-global-ev-sales-record-with-over-17-million-units-sold/
I still can't believe that Simeon Brown got away with so much craziness in terms of cutting funding from basic traffic calming devices such as raised crossings. And that Warkworth debacle, right. I hate to think what he will do with health but like Connor, I am glad he is far away from my favourite zebra crossings at least. I was ready to fight tooth and nail if he tried to stop the 30 km rule on our windy, little sharrows, on Waiheke!
The intersection in Chris Penk's electorate. He complained about Labour not doing Hill St upgrade fast enough, killed by National's then Transport Death Minister, Simeon Brown.
See his 2021 & 2020 posts:
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18Vj6daawr/
What they've done:
Simeon Brown's fanaticism kills Warkworth intersection fix - Greater Auckland
https://www.greaterauckland.org.nz/2024/12/09/simeon-browns-fanaticism-kills-warkworth-intersection-fix/
I got an email from 'Hon' Simeon Brown (then Transport Minister) in reply to one where I questioned raised crossings being removed (replaced by paint) from a Massey, West Auckland, motorway on-ramp upgrade near a school (& also between school & community sport centre) in response to his directions and the reply was 'Good to see'.
Love these short(er) form interviews - still manage a lot of carefully laid out argument and reason. More please!
I think that Luxon was getting a lot of flack from National supporters, provincial mayors and realised that Simeon was an electoral liability and he needed someone to step into health. Lester Levy as health Czar is a buffer between Simeon and health Senior leadership and they are most probably pretty much aligned.
I think it was obvious that Shane Reti was getting increasingly conflicted about health cutbacks starting with the repeal of smokefree legislation. I don't believe that he had an agenda to go down the US health privatisation model and the fact that he owned a couple of GP practices meant that he wanted to abolish public health. He would have been about "choices" mantra. The thing is that In NZ about 90% (that is a guestimate) of GP practices are private businesses. However they are increasingly getting agglomerated into large practices and it would be very hard for a young Shane Reti to buy a practice. The seeds of all this goes back to the compromise the first Labour government made with the BMA prior to the formation of the NZMA in 1941. But that is another story.