John Key announced his new cabinet line up today and of most interest to this blog is that we have a new Minister of Transport in the form of Simon Bridges. His other portfolios of Minister of Energy and Resources and Associate Minister for Climate Change Issues could provide for some interesting synergies should he choose to explore them – our current transport system relies heavily on the use of extracted resources and is a major contributor to climate change issues.
He’s also no stranger to Auckland having been born here and growing up in Te Atatu before moving to Tauranga in 2001. Simon was also the Associate Minister of Transport from April 2012 to January 2013.
I genuinely hope Simon will be willing to me with me/us to discuss transport issues faced in Auckland and NZ but I guess only time will tell.
Craig Foss has also been given the role of Associate Minister of Transport.
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Bit worried about his “drill baby drill” attitude coming across to transport. Also I suspect Joyce is still pulling the strings behind the scenes.
I dunno, combining “Drill baby drill” with the CRL tunnel boring machine could have a pretty good result 😛
Will be interesting to see going forward, there is one thing he can do to get his ministry off to a good start! Cue CRL!! Hopefully at the very least he phases out Joyce’s and Brownlee’s reign of 1970’s transport planning. Here’s hoping.
I don’t think he will have the ability to change or phase out anything, at the end of the day much as Brownlee before him he’s just a puppet controlled by Joyce and other hard-right members of National. It will be more of the same, the chance for a change was lost on September 20.
This can only be bad…
You mean if he becomes Minister Bridges and roads?
You’d think that since he’s young he’s more socially progressive, but he has voted against gay marriage, so I don’t have high hopes for him.
It would be interesting to see if he is amenable to Cost Benefit Analysis of the projects of the RoNs.
Particularly the Holiday Highway. Northland really needs better/safer roading but all the way to Kaitaia and Dargaville, not just to Wellsford and Mangawhai.
“Associate Minister for Climate Change Issues” is another interesting approach avenue of approach to the Minister.
Isn’t he a climate change denier?
Would expect him to be much the same as Gerry Brownlee. As a party National have decided that roads will form a backbone of their infrastructure/growth plan. That’s not going to change. If anyone saw Bridge’s infamous interview with John Camplbell on mining you will know he’s not someone that tolerant of differing points of view and does not like being disagreed with. Expect more of the same. CRL will not start pre 2020. Maybe not even then if the Nats get a fourth term, which given the shambles Labour is in is a very real possibility.
Too right.
From today’s Herald:
“As well as picking up Transport, former lawyer Mr Bridges keeps his previous Energy and Resources portfolio – a combination that is likely to ensure he is even more a target for the Green Party than before.
He said the two came together well in the infrastructure area, adding that his environmentalist critics might be surprised by his approach.
While the Government was committed to building roads and petroleum exploration, “I want to do a lot of work in renewables for energy”.
“For transport, we will continue to do work in conventional transport networks but I think you’ll also see us surprise a few people in some of the things we do in areas such as cycling and potentially other areas.””
Inspiring stuff……
From a cycling point of view, National is actually making all the right noises. They seem much more bullish on cycling than PT. This may be because it is on roads (even if separated) and also of course is incredibly cheap for the return you get.
The success of cycling in cities like New York and London (where a new report says that 50% of commuters to the central city are on bikes) must also be showing the way.
It will be interesting to see how much more than the anaemic $100m over three years that was promised is actually delivered. John Key has personally said in conversations that there will be more money.
Will be very interesting to see. It’s the kind of thing that they can do without making a hurrah about until it’s done and then claim credit for beautiful results.
We wait, with great anticipation and excitement, the next interview between John Campbell and Simon Bridges as the new Minister of Transport.
Well it is a very good idea to have Transport, Energy, and Climate Change all together. As as we’ve often discussed, by investing more rationally in urban transport ie in more and better Transit and Active systems, that means increasing energy independence, reductions in Carbon emissions, and a more resilient and stronger economy in those cities and therefore the country.
I note from his bio that Simon Bridges spent some time studying in London and Oxford. I think that if any progress is to be made, it might start with a chat about Simon’s perspectives of his time in the UK. And, in particular a discussion on how the London economy works. This has applicability to Auckland, if there is a government ambition to set up Auckland to provide the right location, for high value export services industries.
From this sort of high level discussion, a more nuanced look at how the details might work could provide ground for at least some agreement.
Any time Simon has spent in any of the Australian cities could also be worth discussing. The cities I have spent time in all have a strong core (“the good”, as universally agreed), and a bland sprawling hinterland (“the ugly”, but possibly with some economic benefits depending on how you see the world).
The Holiday Highway – the Highway to Hell. Why build an expensive new motorway adjoining the Johnstons Tunnels? All you need do is bypass The Buggers Muddle at the 6 roads that converge at the lights on the main road at Warkworthl. In fact the problem lies where four lines converge into two, one going north and one south at the stupid little bridge in the middle of it all.
Hi Simon, I was just wondering if you have anything to do with Motat because it is The Ministry Of Transport And Technology and I was also wondering if they are going to make a seperate Ministry out of the technology part and title it the Ministry of Technology creating a new seat in government. Is your seat known as the Minister of transport and technology, because the public only know you as the Minister of Transport, so is there something more to these Ministries than what we know?