Billy Clemens: Transporting NZ Policy Lead on the government's transport plan for the next 10 years

Transporting New Zealand says the Government's struck a good spending balance – with investment in the future.  

The government's announced the finalisation of its Policy Statement on Land Transport, to the tune of $22 billion.  

It'll be used to improve road maintenance, build roads of national significance, improve public transport, and bring in roadside drug testing. 

Transporting NZ Policy Lead, Billy Clemens, told Tim Beveridge “This will ensure roads work for New Zealanders.” 

Clemens said “Truck operators pay a lot toward roads, but as long as there’s good maintenance, they’re happy to pay.” 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
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Speaker 2 (00:17):
And the government has confirmed its Land Transport Plan for
the next ten years of whopping twenty two billion dollars
will promise better road maintenance, public transport, roadside drug testing
and new roads, but car registration prices will rise by
fifty dollars, fuel taxes will go up twelve cents a
leader in twenty twenty seven and twenty two cents in

(00:40):
twenty twenty nine, and new roads of national significance are
likely to be told these costles out pay for the
new roads and the pothole Prevention Fund. Policy and advocacy
lead at Transporting New Zealand, Billy Clemens joins me, Now,
good morning on.

Speaker 3 (00:54):
More thing the ten So you welcome the plan. Oh yeah, absolutely,
we think that just having this GPS, like the Transport budget,
with that focus on maintenance and resilience, safety of you
for money, and ultimately with an overarching focus on lifting
economic growth and productivity, it's great news for New Zealand

(01:15):
generally and also for our road operator members carrying freight
around the country. So yeah, we're really pleased to see
this finalized and can't wait to see it being implemented
through m z t a's National and Transport Program and
the Regional Council's transport plans later this year.

Speaker 2 (01:31):
Is it fair enough to describe it as a back
to basics approach and is it what we need?

Speaker 1 (01:36):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (01:36):
I think so absolutely. I think that, you know, the
challenge for our members under under the previous government over
the previous years was that we saw money being taken
out of the National Land Transport Fund and used for
increasingly for investments in rail, coastal shipping, walking, in cycling,

(01:57):
which you know would understand there's certainly benefits for but unfortunately,
you know that that money wasn't going into the essentials,
really into into road maintenance, into proving our roads. You know,
there's a number of years without substantial improvements and big
roading projects. And so we think that this is returning

(02:18):
land transport investment priorities to ensuring that the roads work
for New Zealanders and that we continue to see good
economicit What about the.

Speaker 2 (02:28):
Way of paying for it? Is the government going far
enough with their options because there's quite a bill to
road users. I guess will they be happy with it?
What do you reckon?

Speaker 3 (02:37):
Yeah, look, I think the governments pretty successfully walked a
fine line between limiting those immediate cost increases for road
users while acknowledging that there will have to be an
increase in revenue. We've seen the delay and fuel excise
and rock increases pushed out to twenty twenty seven. We
are supportive of that. Instead the government supplemented that with

(02:59):
general government funding. We think that during a cost of
living crisis and sustained pressure on inflation, and there's appropriate
that excites increases and rock increases, word delay, We think
that certainly in the medium term it is appropriate that
we continue with a user pays model. Truck operators pay
a lot towards the contribution of the roads, but I

(03:21):
think so long as they're seeing significant funding put into
maintenance and roading improvements, they're happy to pay that.

Speaker 2 (03:28):
Excellent. Hey, Billy, I thank you, thanks very much for
your time. That's Billy. Clemency is a policy and advocacy
lead at Transporting New Zealander Yees some quite significant charges there,
but they're not quite kicking in yet. But for those
in Auckland who are looking forward to enjoying the cheaper prices,
with the with the what was it the tax we're paying, Well,
we're all going to be paying it soon anyway.

Speaker 1 (03:48):
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