From survival to thrival: embracing 2025 with optimism
It’s time us to move into ‘thrival’ mode, which is a concept based on the premise that we aren’t just overcoming the challenges we face, we are using them to help us grow, evolve, and eventually flourish into the next phase.
The signs seem to be there, green shoots are starting to appear, with the Reserve Bank gifting New Zealanders another 0.5% OCR drop just last week, signalling a bit more relief for mortgage holders and business owners across the country. Inflation is dropping and the coalition Government’s recent commitments to roading and infrastructure will certainly contribute to a restart of the economy, bringing jobs and efficiencies.
At NRC our habit is looking forward, and not looking too much in the rear-view mirror. We acknowledge how tough it’s been for operators, and we are working to support our members by continuing to have the tough conversations on their behalf. We have achieved a lot this year but now is not the time to take our foot off the accelerator as there are some chunky issues coming our way.
When Bill English was Finance Minister his office did a piece of work that showed 40% of Kiwi households receive more in tax credits and other benefits than they pay in tax – thousands more are neutral contributors. The data showed ‘households earning less than $50,000 receive more in credits than they paid in direct income tax by about a third’, while the ‘top 3% of individual income earners, earning more than $150,000 a year, pay 24% of all tax received’.
Why is this an important you ask? Well, according to Stats NZ by 2028, one in five people in the population will be 65+ years. By the 2050s, this group could make up one quarter of the population. Simply put, our current trajectory gives us fewer taxpayer dollars to draw on to build roads, hospitals and invest in the critical infrastructure we desperately need. Already the taxpayer dollar is over-stretched and all around us we are seeing the result of years on underinvestment – potholes on every road, a chronic lack of drug funding and long surgical wait times.
If we are going to create a prosperous New Zealand, we need to think about other ways to fund our core infrastructure. Other countries employ funding strategies such as road tolling, public-private partnerships, concession agreements, and user pays strategies (e.g. RUC).
Reforming how we fund our roading network is well overdue. With an environment where vehicles are more efficient than ever, continuing to rely on fuel taxes leaves some road users to shoulder a higher tax burden without rectifying the ever-diminishing tax take which was borne out of a system that hasn’t adapted with the times.
As we head towards a cleaner road transport fleet, we need to think carefully about how we accommodate the vehicles of the future. Care needs to be taken to not lose productivity as we chase low emissions targets. Vehicle Dimensions and Mass (VDAM) reform is needed to offset the changing size, weight, and length of modern vehicles and roading infrastructure needs to be designed to support the evolving fleet.
Additionally, as the global economy picks up, we need to make sure we have the staff needed to meet the country’s needs. We will be competing on the international stage for truck, bus and courier drivers, and if we don’t get our immigration settings right the impact on the economy will be stark. If goods can’t get moved, costs rise and so does inflation.
Make no mistake, these are big transformational issues, they need cross-agency engagement to stand a chance of success.
Being at the table, making sure the industry voice is heard and collaborating to create workable regulations and policies to support the transformation required is NRC’s focus.
Finally, we should remember that as a country we are still young. The Treaty was signed in 1840 just 23 years before the London Underground opened in 1863. In Auckland we are on track to open the CRL in 2025 a short 162 years later.
There is no doubt we are battling through our toddler years as a country, but we shouldn’t overlook the fact we live in the most beautiful country in the world. It’s paradise, and we mustn’t lose sight of that.
And on that note, from the entire NRC team, I wish you are your family Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Keep on trucking.
