Locals in Wairarapa, Hawkes Bay & Manawatu outraged over Simeon Brown’s plan to toll new highway replacing the closed Manawatu Gorge road; First big test of entire National infrastructure funding plan
So nearly $2.5k a year if you have a daily commute over the gorge replacement, that’s a massive hit to the community. Don’t think Simeon will be putting his name down for a local constituency
$1K a year for the proposed 27K Ōtaki to north of Levin stretch, for daily commuters, where there's no public transport alternative. (Except the Capital Connection, once a day.)
...and presumably no roading alternative either from Ohau to Otaki, if the same scheme as Paraparaumu to Paekakariki of utilising the existing SH1 to form part of the new road is to be followed.
Kevin, it's a complete piece of new roading joining onto the existing expressway at Otaki and running across the paddocks (through several houses) inland towards Levin, on the other side of the railway tracks from the current SH1. So the old, dangerous road will remain, and that is what people will use, no doubt, leaving an empty, eye-wateringly expensive, white elephant. Oh well, it will keep the traffic further away from us and be there for traffic to avoid the holiday crashes instead of South Manakau Road (with its two one-lane bridges). My selfish up side.
Yes, apparently it's a rule for toll-roads-that there has to be a non-tolled alternative route (just looked it up on LTNZ website). I prefer the slow-roads anyway' suits my temperament (and age lol!)
I’m torn on this. From a climate perspective people should (ideally) live near their place of work, and tolls as a whole discourage car travel, and are an effective tax on the negative externality of climate pollution. But I hear you on those who are suffering the cost of the travel and lack of affordable housing near where they work, although I wonder on the real numbers on this (lifestyle plots?) Nonetheless it does sound like another own goal, unless it’s all part of the wider bait and switch in ‘26 plan to save us in the election year.
Your heart may be in the right place, Sam, but not all of us want to be crammed into cities in this beautiful country. Nor can many afford that city/big town 'lifestyle', as comments show, where people commute from places with more affordable housing.
Indeed. I moved from Wellington & bought a cheap house in Horowhenua so I could be rent and mortgage free at retiring age. Now it appears I am to be boxed-in by toll-roads to the South and East.
Choice is nice, Peter, but affordability is a need to have! I sold my Wellington house in 2010 and moved up the coast for a better-built house at half the price, and no mortgage (like Kevin). I commuted on the Capital Connection for nine years. You'll have to move further up the line than me to get that deal these days though.
Oh 100% from a climate perspective. However one must have a country truly geared to that. We can be that country if we have decades of bold leadership. Unfortunately since many Kiwis view driving as some kind of God given right, coupled with this 'war on public transport' stance the Coalition is taking, truly makes a mockery of any 'climate aspirations'. Grim.
I’m wondering if he’s the troll that the party will throw out to appease the populace in the election year. Only problem is that he’s the guy that makes Winston look tall.
Dannevirke, Woodville and Pahiatua - where the commuters to Palmerston North come from - are lower-income towns with almost zero work options. The money these commuters bring into the district is economically very important. I suspect many of these jobs wouldn't have work-from-home options - retail, manufacturing, etc.
There is a little-used railway track that runs from Pahiatua to Woodville, and joins the line linking Palmerston North and Hawkes Bay. But the train station in Palmerston North is miles from the centre of town. The numbers wouldn't come close to making this viable.
There is a bus from Pahiatua to Palmerston North. but it only travels three times a week. Unless you work in the Palmerston North CBD, you'd need to get another bus to your work as Palmerston North is very spread out.
There is insufficient critical mass to make public transport an option here.
This government is showing its true colours of being a government of the rich, for the rich. Tolling a highway in a low socio economic area, landlord tax cuts, tax cuts predominantly for the rich, a pm who thought he had an entitlement to an accomodation allowance, KO building stoppage, cuts to the health system with a part timer now in charge. Sad 😭
On road tolls and pushback: good on those communities; I wish them the best of luck. I’ll be following this one closely. As for SB saying that the road is better quality etc, that’s kind of irrelevant if people can’t use it.
Also: I don’t understand; if a family earning up to 180k pa is considered medium income, why does the highest tax bracket kick in at 180k? I realise that tax brackets are based on individual salaries; but the more I think about it, the less sense our tax brackets make. IMO, minimum wages workers should never be in anything other than the lowest tax bracket, and yet, basic maths indicates that is not the case.
It's been noted internationally that we have a very regressive tax system. I cannot wrap my head around Browns thinking on the tolls, seems bad all round for him. Perhaps internally they said he can do what he wants as "long as he funds it" ...
Thanks Bernard. I'm curious this morning around the "Scoop" that is understanding that the Health Commissioner is being paid pro rata approx $500k. Why is this a "Scoop"? Whether you agree with the need for this appointment or not, would it not be negligent of the government to appoint a candidate with less perceived capability and increase the risk of not getting a return on the investment? I get frustrated by this simplistic, click-bait type of headline. It ranks alongside the classic "Govt department spends thousands on contractors" headlines which are regurgitated with monotonous regularity. As always, keep up the great work.
Peter, perhaps the 'scoop' is that this man doesn't think the job is worthy of his full attention when most of the country is very worried about what is currently happening in all aspects of health delivery.
Quite possibly Annie. Would you have been happier if he gave it his full attention and was paid the FTE of over $500k? At some point we have to fix the problems you note in health delivery, and this chap, along with the government will come under significant public scrutiny around their performance to do that (thankfully!). I for one have grave doubts about the policy and the appointment, however I have a patent dislike for headlines which feel click-baity. It's exactly why I choose to subscribe to Bernard and not directly to the click driven media. I feel he does a great job of screening us from that rubbish.
I'm in your camp, Peter. As to $500K? Seems par for the course. You don't get ought for nought! Whether this man is worth that?? I think of all the nurses half of that could pay. I don't think he's solving Health's issues, he's forcing it into a position where people will die before their time, some of them likely dedicated health professionals.
The disparity between CEO salaries and their workers has long bothered me. It is an imported, competition for skills problem. Frankly, I'd like to export a few of our problem sons and daughters, and see how they fare in an ocean rather than this goldfish bowl!
The comp for a necessary job of this scale is fine. But it's the necessary part. Health has inefficiency, of course it does, but much of that stems from decades of kicking the can down the road on much needed investment. This "trimming the fat" fantasy just doesn't exist in reality.
"At some point we have to fix the problems you note in health delivery."
We will get a much better bang for our buck if we asked the workforce on the ground where the efficiencies can be found and how we should fix the issues with delivery of health.
Some over inflated ego at $500k a year will not fix anything in the public system.
I am informed that, having graduated from Med School, Dr Levy worked on the wards as an intern for 18 months and not since. Is that an urban myth, or true? If it's true then his ability to speak as a practitioner needs a rather large discount factor.
In Christchurch this "capable" candidate scoured out almost all of the ELT of CDHB and the deficit went up. I think this bloke is overrated, and now apparently, overpaid.
"Perceived capability" - clearly perceived by some and not by others. I have no personal experience of him to judge. What do you think would be an appropriate salary to pay to someone tasked with leading this work? (whether you agree with the need to have appointed him in the first place, which I don't BTW)
So the perceived capability is because he is paid a lot? How about we require actual capabilities before offering such an amount? No wonder Luxon got to where he is, all smoke and mirror with nothing to back it up.
Thanks Peter. I agree on the manufactured outrage on birthday cakes etc. But Levy has extraordinary deep and wide powers and is now running the biggest workforce with the biggest problems in the country. He should at least be full time and have given up his other roles and any conflicts of interest.
I'm watching to see if this Govt is willing to back down on any policy because of voter backlash. I haven't noticed it on anything more than toast for mums and there have been no shortage of outrages in the past year. I feel for the locals who have been blindsided last minute. More dense housing close to jobs and Unis is once again the solution.
Yep - I agree. Given the National Party remain relatively unpopular for a first term government - there is not a lot of political capital available for them to burn through. The only question is who will blink first - National or their coalition partners if they sense they could win some votes off National.
Regarding report on health outcome inequality - this just repeats the core argument for Smokefree 2025 (originally Smokefree 2020) from the previous National government. there is an endless cycle of smoking being leading driver of respiratory illness which led to Smokefree legislation , leading to the rise of vaping and an outbreak of a new generation of smokers and the cycle starts again. Blaming current government is just easy cop out. The Smokefree legislation was the easiest thing to do. Legislation Without Culture Change is just theatre. The real solution was the grassroots community aspects of the legislation to create culture change which were never implemented. So aside from fantasy smoking product restrictions and quit- smoking programme funding (ambulance at the bottom of the cliff) nothing was implemented that would actually achieve the objective. Smoking is on the rise and smokers are not only unapologetic but downright belligerent. It was Labour Greens who really dropped the ball. They had the ability to fund community work to create a culture that rejects smoking full stop. They needed to overhaul the school health curriculum on smoking, which is hopelessly out of date. But they just sat in the beehive fashioning more restrictions and patting themselves on the back. The real work was left to others and that has left the opening for repeal and backlash.
You watch… Simple Simeon will come out in a few weeks with an announcement that they will drop the toll to $3 per car. “We listened to the community, heard what they said and have come up with this solution to solve the problematic problem. It’s the constituents of the Wairarapa (pronounced Woy-repper) that are the real winners”
Brooke van Velden consistently does not meet any group who may disagree with her ideological prescriptions. Demonstrating she is totally unfit to be a minister.
I wonder how much of the toll is actually going towards the cost of administering the system to toll the road in the first place.
What is left afterwards that actually goes on the road itself would be interesting - I would guess that despite this, the road is still highly subsidised by the NZ Taxpayer.
I genuinely feel sorry for people who didn't vote this party in and seeing as how this part of the country is one of the heartland strongholds of the National entourage, well you get what you vote for. You have to take the good with bad just like those who didn't vote them in. Oh the bitter sweet irony of it. 🤔
So nearly $2.5k a year if you have a daily commute over the gorge replacement, that’s a massive hit to the community. Don’t think Simeon will be putting his name down for a local constituency
$1K a year for the proposed 27K Ōtaki to north of Levin stretch, for daily commuters, where there's no public transport alternative. (Except the Capital Connection, once a day.)
...and presumably no roading alternative either from Ohau to Otaki, if the same scheme as Paraparaumu to Paekakariki of utilising the existing SH1 to form part of the new road is to be followed.
Kevin, it's a complete piece of new roading joining onto the existing expressway at Otaki and running across the paddocks (through several houses) inland towards Levin, on the other side of the railway tracks from the current SH1. So the old, dangerous road will remain, and that is what people will use, no doubt, leaving an empty, eye-wateringly expensive, white elephant. Oh well, it will keep the traffic further away from us and be there for traffic to avoid the holiday crashes instead of South Manakau Road (with its two one-lane bridges). My selfish up side.
Yes, apparently it's a rule for toll-roads-that there has to be a non-tolled alternative route (just looked it up on LTNZ website). I prefer the slow-roads anyway' suits my temperament (and age lol!)
Elite roading for the wealthy, while their 'bottom feeders' get to use the old dangerous roads if they can afford to travel at all...
I’m torn on this. From a climate perspective people should (ideally) live near their place of work, and tolls as a whole discourage car travel, and are an effective tax on the negative externality of climate pollution. But I hear you on those who are suffering the cost of the travel and lack of affordable housing near where they work, although I wonder on the real numbers on this (lifestyle plots?) Nonetheless it does sound like another own goal, unless it’s all part of the wider bait and switch in ‘26 plan to save us in the election year.
Your heart may be in the right place, Sam, but not all of us want to be crammed into cities in this beautiful country. Nor can many afford that city/big town 'lifestyle', as comments show, where people commute from places with more affordable housing.
Indeed. I moved from Wellington & bought a cheap house in Horowhenua so I could be rent and mortgage free at retiring age. Now it appears I am to be boxed-in by toll-roads to the South and East.
ditto.
Agree we don't all want to live in cities but it should be more about choice than affordability!
Choice is nice, Peter, but affordability is a need to have! I sold my Wellington house in 2010 and moved up the coast for a better-built house at half the price, and no mortgage (like Kevin). I commuted on the Capital Connection for nine years. You'll have to move further up the line than me to get that deal these days though.
Oh 100% from a climate perspective. However one must have a country truly geared to that. We can be that country if we have decades of bold leadership. Unfortunately since many Kiwis view driving as some kind of God given right, coupled with this 'war on public transport' stance the Coalition is taking, truly makes a mockery of any 'climate aspirations'. Grim.
It certainly seems unlikely that they have arrived at toll roads as a strategy to meet emissions targets!
Unlikely is an understatement 😂. I can't quite understand Simeon Browns thinking.
I’m wondering if he’s the troll that the party will throw out to appease the populace in the election year. Only problem is that he’s the guy that makes Winston look tall.
I've long thought he's been prepped to play the Useful Idiot part and is likely to be the first head to roll once the hear builds.
No it's a sly way of earning more taxes while promoting their decline elsewhere
Dannevirke, Woodville and Pahiatua - where the commuters to Palmerston North come from - are lower-income towns with almost zero work options. The money these commuters bring into the district is economically very important. I suspect many of these jobs wouldn't have work-from-home options - retail, manufacturing, etc.
There is a little-used railway track that runs from Pahiatua to Woodville, and joins the line linking Palmerston North and Hawkes Bay. But the train station in Palmerston North is miles from the centre of town. The numbers wouldn't come close to making this viable.
There is a bus from Pahiatua to Palmerston North. but it only travels three times a week. Unless you work in the Palmerston North CBD, you'd need to get another bus to your work as Palmerston North is very spread out.
There is insufficient critical mass to make public transport an option here.
This government is showing its true colours of being a government of the rich, for the rich. Tolling a highway in a low socio economic area, landlord tax cuts, tax cuts predominantly for the rich, a pm who thought he had an entitlement to an accomodation allowance, KO building stoppage, cuts to the health system with a part timer now in charge. Sad 😭
On road tolls and pushback: good on those communities; I wish them the best of luck. I’ll be following this one closely. As for SB saying that the road is better quality etc, that’s kind of irrelevant if people can’t use it.
Also: I don’t understand; if a family earning up to 180k pa is considered medium income, why does the highest tax bracket kick in at 180k? I realise that tax brackets are based on individual salaries; but the more I think about it, the less sense our tax brackets make. IMO, minimum wages workers should never be in anything other than the lowest tax bracket, and yet, basic maths indicates that is not the case.
It's been noted internationally that we have a very regressive tax system. I cannot wrap my head around Browns thinking on the tolls, seems bad all round for him. Perhaps internally they said he can do what he wants as "long as he funds it" ...
Wow! Money's so tight in the health sector that the head honcho has to work two jobs!
It would appear satire really is dead.
Levy by name, levy by nature
Does this extra job entail his directorship duties for three private health provider companies the company register shows he is a director of?
Conflict of interest, much?
Thanks Bernard. I'm curious this morning around the "Scoop" that is understanding that the Health Commissioner is being paid pro rata approx $500k. Why is this a "Scoop"? Whether you agree with the need for this appointment or not, would it not be negligent of the government to appoint a candidate with less perceived capability and increase the risk of not getting a return on the investment? I get frustrated by this simplistic, click-bait type of headline. It ranks alongside the classic "Govt department spends thousands on contractors" headlines which are regurgitated with monotonous regularity. As always, keep up the great work.
Peter, perhaps the 'scoop' is that this man doesn't think the job is worthy of his full attention when most of the country is very worried about what is currently happening in all aspects of health delivery.
Quite possibly Annie. Would you have been happier if he gave it his full attention and was paid the FTE of over $500k? At some point we have to fix the problems you note in health delivery, and this chap, along with the government will come under significant public scrutiny around their performance to do that (thankfully!). I for one have grave doubts about the policy and the appointment, however I have a patent dislike for headlines which feel click-baity. It's exactly why I choose to subscribe to Bernard and not directly to the click driven media. I feel he does a great job of screening us from that rubbish.
I'm in your camp, Peter. As to $500K? Seems par for the course. You don't get ought for nought! Whether this man is worth that?? I think of all the nurses half of that could pay. I don't think he's solving Health's issues, he's forcing it into a position where people will die before their time, some of them likely dedicated health professionals.
The disparity between CEO salaries and their workers has long bothered me. It is an imported, competition for skills problem. Frankly, I'd like to export a few of our problem sons and daughters, and see how they fare in an ocean rather than this goldfish bowl!
The comp for a necessary job of this scale is fine. But it's the necessary part. Health has inefficiency, of course it does, but much of that stems from decades of kicking the can down the road on much needed investment. This "trimming the fat" fantasy just doesn't exist in reality.
"At some point we have to fix the problems you note in health delivery."
We will get a much better bang for our buck if we asked the workforce on the ground where the efficiencies can be found and how we should fix the issues with delivery of health.
Some over inflated ego at $500k a year will not fix anything in the public system.
I am informed that, having graduated from Med School, Dr Levy worked on the wards as an intern for 18 months and not since. Is that an urban myth, or true? If it's true then his ability to speak as a practitioner needs a rather large discount factor.
In Christchurch this "capable" candidate scoured out almost all of the ELT of CDHB and the deficit went up. I think this bloke is overrated, and now apparently, overpaid.
"Perceived capability" - clearly perceived by some and not by others. I have no personal experience of him to judge. What do you think would be an appropriate salary to pay to someone tasked with leading this work? (whether you agree with the need to have appointed him in the first place, which I don't BTW)
Getting paid lots doesn't necessarily equate to capability.
Indeed ……..note “perceived capability”
So the perceived capability is because he is paid a lot? How about we require actual capabilities before offering such an amount? No wonder Luxon got to where he is, all smoke and mirror with nothing to back it up.
Thanks Peter. I agree on the manufactured outrage on birthday cakes etc. But Levy has extraordinary deep and wide powers and is now running the biggest workforce with the biggest problems in the country. He should at least be full time and have given up his other roles and any conflicts of interest.
Cheers
I'm watching to see if this Govt is willing to back down on any policy because of voter backlash. I haven't noticed it on anything more than toast for mums and there have been no shortage of outrages in the past year. I feel for the locals who have been blindsided last minute. More dense housing close to jobs and Unis is once again the solution.
What about our temporary PM's "entitlement "to charge rent for his mortgage free house in Wellington. He backed down on that under pressure.
Cancer drug funding.
Yep - I agree. Given the National Party remain relatively unpopular for a first term government - there is not a lot of political capital available for them to burn through. The only question is who will blink first - National or their coalition partners if they sense they could win some votes off National.
If I understand correctly the toll road on SH1 at Orewa doean't cover the cost of collection. Who is pulling the strings here?
Regarding report on health outcome inequality - this just repeats the core argument for Smokefree 2025 (originally Smokefree 2020) from the previous National government. there is an endless cycle of smoking being leading driver of respiratory illness which led to Smokefree legislation , leading to the rise of vaping and an outbreak of a new generation of smokers and the cycle starts again. Blaming current government is just easy cop out. The Smokefree legislation was the easiest thing to do. Legislation Without Culture Change is just theatre. The real solution was the grassroots community aspects of the legislation to create culture change which were never implemented. So aside from fantasy smoking product restrictions and quit- smoking programme funding (ambulance at the bottom of the cliff) nothing was implemented that would actually achieve the objective. Smoking is on the rise and smokers are not only unapologetic but downright belligerent. It was Labour Greens who really dropped the ball. They had the ability to fund community work to create a culture that rejects smoking full stop. They needed to overhaul the school health curriculum on smoking, which is hopelessly out of date. But they just sat in the beehive fashioning more restrictions and patting themselves on the back. The real work was left to others and that has left the opening for repeal and backlash.
You watch… Simple Simeon will come out in a few weeks with an announcement that they will drop the toll to $3 per car. “We listened to the community, heard what they said and have come up with this solution to solve the problematic problem. It’s the constituents of the Wairarapa (pronounced Woy-repper) that are the real winners”
It is all so unfair I am glad I now call him Five.
Brooke van Velden consistently does not meet any group who may disagree with her ideological prescriptions. Demonstrating she is totally unfit to be a minister.
Toll roads is just another instruction to this government from the NZ Initiative (nee Business Roundtable).
I wonder how much of the toll is actually going towards the cost of administering the system to toll the road in the first place.
What is left afterwards that actually goes on the road itself would be interesting - I would guess that despite this, the road is still highly subsidised by the NZ Taxpayer.
Knowing what I know now about our economy, everything that crops up in the news is tainted with the lense of : "this is avoidable".
And what is Levy’s second job?
His lectureship at AUT
I genuinely feel sorry for people who didn't vote this party in and seeing as how this part of the country is one of the heartland strongholds of the National entourage, well you get what you vote for. You have to take the good with bad just like those who didn't vote them in. Oh the bitter sweet irony of it. 🤔