Let’s build resilience, reform government and reimagine our cities

The Post has been running a series of think-pieces on how to fix the country, and invited Greater Auckland director Matt Lowrie, among others, for an ideal “first 100 days” plan. We’re happy to share Matt’s take with our readers. Turns out you can say quite a lot in 750 words!

In Aotearoa, we pride ourselves on our natural landscape and agricultural prowess. It’s how we sell ourselves to the world, even as we’re increasingly reminded just how fragile our environment is.

And yet most of us live in urban areas. Also, many of us are struggling. And far too many of our friends and family are leaving for livelier cities abroad.

Vibrant cities are economic powerhouses, where small changes can have an outsized impact on our shared prosperity, and improve wellbeing for the majority of New Zealanders.

So, in my first 100 days I’d focus on how we can build resilience, reform government and reimagine our cities.

My government would start with a massive electrification drive, to liberate us from dependence on imported fuels and shield us from price shocks. We’d expand rooftop solar and add more grid-scale battery solutions – to provide a vital backup for vulnerable towns and cities, and help electrify everything, from machinery to vehicles.

Making cities great begins with transport. It doesn’t make the top 10 issues people tend to vote on, alongside the cost of living, the economy, our health system, housing, education or climate change. But transport powerfully affects all aspects of our lives, and small tweaks bring large dividends.

Matt Lowrie (left) with other Greater Aucklanders (Jolisa & Patrick), enjoying a special preview of the revamped Maungawhau Station, June 2026.

All eyes are rightly on the imminent opening of Auckland’s transformative City Rail Link (CRL). But it’s just one part of the long-planned citywide Rapid Transit Network (RTN), which combines rail and dedicated busways, and is our closest equivalent to the impressive metro systems New Zealanders love riding when we travel abroad.

I’d bring that sensation home, and give Kiwis reliable congestion-free ways to get around our own cities. I’d accelerate interim solutions ahead of permanent improvements, not just in Auckland – in all major cities. And because housing gravitates to great transport options, this will help guide healthier urban growth.

There’s a governance paradox to solve. Transport tends to be a noisier topic in local elections than national ones, perhaps because the impacts feel closer to home, from potholes to whether kids can safely bike to school.

And yet New Zealand is one of the most centralised countries in the developed world, with nearly 90% of all taxation and public expenditure controlled by government, compared with an OECD average of just over half.

If I were prime minister, I’d hand as much of that power and choice as I could back to communities.

As things stand, local councils can’t even fill in a pothole without asking the government for co-funding. And because the government dominates funding and decision-making, we get perverse outcomes. Councils become state highway begging machines, demanding low-use roads be upscaled to four-lane highways, knowing government picks up the tab. Government, in turn, politicises tarmac for votes.

It’s a ruinously costly game. The Roads of National Significance programme has blown out to over $50 billion for brand new highways alongside rural roads that carry less traffic than your average two-lane urban arterial. Meanwhile, hundreds of small, smart local fixes languish.

So here’s my take. The current government is keen on local body amalgamation. Auckland’s supercity has been mostly successful; we wouldn’t have had the CRL without it.

But forced amalgamation will fail us all, if it loads councils with more responsibility while withholding the power to fund and influence what’s built. Locals deserve a greater say.

As PM, I’d decentralise transport funding and offer newly amalgamated regions the carrot of bulk funding arrangements. They could invest in transport priorities as they see fit – while also maintaining and developing infrastructure including state highways.

Central government would then focus on setting policy to achieve overarching aims, like reducing emissions and improving safety outcomes.

The results will quickly become tangible. Giving people more travel options creates room on the roads for freight, tradies, and others. As the fleet electrifies, we’ll see fewer emissions, and an economy less liable to be held to ransom by foreign wars.

More people travelling actively and via public transport – catching a bus, biking to work, walking to school – leads to safer streets, livelier neighbourhoods, and a healthier population overall, putting less pressure on our health system.

And giving our kids more ways to get around is great for independence and frees up productive parental time. Indeed, a measure of success will be how our children are doing: can they get around their neighbourhood? Do they see a future here?

Let’s make our cities great places to live, attracting and enabling people to live their best lives and tackle the challenges of our age together.

Do it for them. Photo by Matt Lowrie, from December 2015 – same point applies over a decade onwards.

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