Green MP Gareth Hughes’s speech on the 2010 budget:
This bit is particularly good:
“Just one more win, and then I can finally quit.”, “Just one more motorway, then we can relieve congestion and finally stop building them.” But one motorway leads to another, then another, until we are building motorways to solve the problems caused by the other motorways.
This guy is really onto it.
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The greens are the only ones with a clue when it comes to transport, it’s a shame that some of their other policies are disagreeable. On the whole though, I think im going to vote green next time.
Pity there is next to nobody in there listening to it. It’s also a shame he sounds like an earnest 7th form debate team member although i’m sure with more experience he’ll be more polished.
He is talking a lot of sense but the message is falling on deaf ears.
Labour seem to be slowly coming around to a fairly similar position when it comes to transport, particularly in Auckland. The Maori Party have generally been pretty supportive of PT and understand peak oil quite well.
As for the others, the less said the better.
Intelligent man, great debate and all true. Why are some people in government so opposed to fund rail?
Too bad no one heard it. The number of empty seats is depressing. Was there a response from the government to this?
I doubt it James. Yes the number of empty seats is depressing – I guess contributing to why I felt the need to share such an excellent speech.
Yes, he looks like an earnest and somewhat… stuggling for a word here. Not naive. Just well, a bit fresh and raw. But I agree with Cam – with experience he could become a lot better at what he lacks (and if he writes those speeches himself, then he already has a lot).
Bright eyed, bushy tailed enthusiasm and wonder, perhaps ingolfson..?
Gareth Hughes is a pretty smart guy, and I know for a fact that he has some very smart people advising him.
Some of the quotes there could have been from this site…
I ran into Gareth the other day on Cuba st. I Let him know I totally support him and the green when it comes to public transport issues.
Don’t worry about the empty seats – it’s simply a fact of Parliament. It’s rare for all MPs to be in the House at once, except for ceremonial or voting occasions. For many speeches, there will only be one representative from each party (usually giving the speech), and the party whips.
At the same time, speeches like this are good to get out – the media won’t report it, and few people watch ParliamentTV reguarly.
Much of the time the MPs are at select committees during house time, not just down at Bellamy’s…