It’s political... WHAT THE POLITICIANS THINK ABOUT TRUCKING THE NEW ZEALAND TRUCKING INDUSTRY FACES many challenges – many of them influenced by Government policy. Apart from the many problems currently created by the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s the ongoing driver shortage, the worsening state of the nation’s roading network and looming emissions reduction legislation… So, who among our political parties offers any
salvation for the industry in these situations? To have some insight into what politicians are thinking about issues impacting the road transport industry, NZ Truck & Driver has offered each of the major political parties the opportunity to voice their views on trucking matters each month. This month the National and ACT parties offer their views on the industry. T&D
1000 more staff at NZTA, but worse outcomes By Simeon Brown, National Party Spokesman for Transport and Public Service. THE NEW ZEALAND TRANSPORT AGENCY (NZTA) IS MEANT TO have a purpose of delivering world-class transport infrastructure to keep our country moving and to maintain our roads to a high standard. Families, businesses, and communities rely on our state highways and roads to stay connected and remain productive. However, many Kiwis get the sense that transport investment is going nowhere under Labour and the money for road maintenance is not getting to where it is needed. NZTA under Labour has cancelled so many important infrastructure projects. For example, there’s Mill Road, Christchurch to Ashburton, Whangarei to Port Marsden, and Cambridge to Piarere, just to name a few. Meanwhile at NZTA headquarters, the number of staff has been growing, while the actual investment in transport infrastructure has been shrinking. There are now 2,306 FTE staff at NZTA, compared with 1,368 when National left office, with the major increases being in back office roles rather than frontline services. NZTA has doubled the number of its Managers, with 456 of them compared with 214 five years ago. Evidently, more managers doesn’t necessarily mean more work gets done. In fact, how many managers does it take to fix a pothole? Also doubled is the number of Human Resources Staff with 118 HR Staff, which is up from 51 in 2018. I guess NZTA needs more HR staff to keep track of the 900 other staff they’ve hired… There are now 485 Administrative Staff, up from 306 in 2018. With so many pen pushers, you would have thought things would run more smoothly at NZTA. Perhaps most concerning, NZTA’s Communications Staff has tripled from 32 staff in 2018 to 97 this year. With millions spent advertising that the Road to Zero policy exists, rather than broadcasting an actual safety message, it should come as no surprise that NZTA is more concerned with drawing attention to itself and creating a brand image than actually getting things done.
Simon Brown While Labour has gone on a hiring spree, the outcomes delivered by the agency are getting worse. Cancelled projects and the proliferation of potholes peppering our roads are just two examples. Key safety outcomes are not being delivered for the flagship Road to Zero policy, such as the fact that only half of the required three million breath tests were completed last year , despite alcohol and drugs contributing to 47 per cent of all deaths on our roads. This is just another example of more bureaucracy, but worse outcomes under a Labour Government which doesn’t know how to deliver. Maybe if NZTA was more focused on fixing potholes and building bridges rather than radically increasing the number of HR staff and spin doctors it hires, our roads might be in a much healthier state than they are now. T&D Truck & Driver | 87
