Another week where daily a new major transport story hits the headlines. So much is happening that you’ll have to forgive me – my column is probably more accurately called Justin’s Transport Five Minutes this week.
Auckland has dominated my attention over the last week. As National Road Carriers, we represent the entire country and I am passionate about our role supporting road freight in the regions. But getting Auckland’s freight sector humming is important too – after all when the Auckland economy is strong, the entire country benefits.
On Friday, I attended the annual Auckland Chamber lunch with the Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis. What I took away from her impressive speech was that this government is eyes wide open about how our economic performance has fallen, and clear about their change agenda to get it back on track. This is no easy task, the Minister will have to strike a delicate goldilocks balance between stimulating an economic re-start, while also cutting expenditure and reducing the deficit.
Minister Willis outlined an approach which will continue with promised tax relief to assist cost of living pressures, and well-targeted government spend which will deliver value to taxpayers. This is not an austerity budget, nor is it a spend our way out of recession approach. She pointed to infrastructure spend as wise investment which helps stimulate the economy, while building assets which enable economic growth year after year. The challenge was put out to government department chief executives to make sure that all of their spend is delivering value – waste will no longer be tolerated.
On Monday I met with Auckland Transport Chief Executive Dean Kimpton to talk about freight priorities for the city. Like many of our leaders right now, his role is faced with enormous challenges, and to succeed the support of both public and private leadership in the city is critical. NRC is prepared to play our part and work with AT to enable all important freight efficiency. I was impressed with how Dean is right on board with the importance of freight to the success of the city, and he was very interested in hearing what needs to be done to get it flowing from the sector. For me that comes down to continuing to protect the city’s strategic freight network, and prioritise freight movement on these corridors when competing works come along. For our part, NRC will support giving Auckland a voice in Wellington to ensure that adequate maintenance budget is provided for the city’s roads. The AT boss told me the Auckland freight network roads carry more movements per day than 90% of the state highway network, so funding should reflect this.
Tuesday I flew to Wellington to attend three important meetings with the Ministry of Transport and the NZTA, joined by David Boyce of the NZ Trucking Association, and NRC’s own James Smith.
First on the agenda was providing feedback to MOT on the draft Land Transport Government Policy Statement. We talked through too many topics to list, safe to say you will be able to read our submission next week. Regular readers will be familiar with my position on the GPS, the short version being NRC supports the bulk of the GPS and applauds its focus on getting the foundations of roading maintenance, rehabilitation and prioritised upgrades in place.
Following this we met with more MOT officials to discuss the Cook Strait Ferry crossing, and the implications for road freight of the replacement ferry order cancellation. The floating part of State Highway 1 is of course an essential part of New Zealand’s freight backbone, resilience is paramount. What is less clear is what a loss of rail capability on the crossing could mean for the overall supply chain. We discussed the flexibility of the national road freight network – it has demonstrated time and again it can seamlessly adapt to new conditions. We are pulling together advice to officials, and I welcome views from members, especially those that whose networks cross the Strait, to assist us with this.
In the afternoon we headed to the NZTA offices to attend the quarterly Road Freight Safety Group meeting. Here we worked through with officials some of the outdated regulations that need updating to drive efficiency. These included licensing, COFs, TSLs, worktime rules, logbooks and many other points of detail. With over 20 in the room from MOT, NZTA, ACC, Worksafe and TNZ, it was a great opportunity to agree a system level approach. There was much agreement on the need to move to more nimble, performance-based regulations which allow the industry to efficiently operate without a time and effort penalty. Equally, moving to an incentivisation and trust-based approach for industry was seen as far more effective than total reliance on enforcement and compliance. Rewarding good behaviour for transport operators is something I believe very strongly in, and I expect to be able to share some wins in this space latter in the year.
Wrapping up the week yesterday I attended the Project Auckland launch, where the Minister of Auckland Simeon Brown devoted much of his speech to the importance of transport, and how the significant projects they are investing in to get Auckland moving again. Sitting next to me was the newly appointed Chair of NZTA Simon Bridges, who the Minister congratulated, thanked and wished luck for the monumental task ahead. Simon has resigned from his role as Chair of the NRC Transport & Logistics Advisory Group to prevent any potential conflict of interest. While I’m sorry to lose Simon in this capacity, we can all be delighted that someone of his experience and calibre has been appointed to such a critical role for New Zealand. He’s been a great support to me as I’ve settled into the role as Chief Exec at NRC, and I’d like to thank him for his free and frank advice, and wish him all the best in his new role.
Also sitting on our desk is the Auckland Long Term Plan, which includes the proposal to sell an operating lease for the Port of Auckland. Any decision on how the port operates and is owned has significant implications for road freight operators throughout the upper north island – we have over 100 members that operate there on a daily basis. While selling an operating lease may be a fiscally attractive option for a cash-strapped council, as the main import gateway for NZ, and a sizeable export launchpad, it is critical we get this right. Submissions close 28 March – I encourage Auckland-based members to have your say, either through us or directly by submitting.
What to make of all of this? GDP data this week officially confirmed what we all knew, New Zealand was in recession for the last half of 2023. This year is not going to be easy. But I have taken away a sense of renewed optimism in the air. Across business and public leaders I can sense an energy where people are up for the task of rebuilding our economy. And yes, as you can see, there is a lot to be done, across a lot of important infrastructure. We all want to build a thriving New Zealand, and we can all play our part – no better time than now to roll up our sleeves, and get on with it.
Justin Tighe-Umbers
CEO | National Road Carriers Assn
DDI: +64 9 636 2951 |
