What will happen to National now?

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#2880473 7-Mar-2022 16:37

I realise not everywhere in the city is like that - but if you want to get to the CBD, there are a few options available. Getting across the city (say from Waitakere to somewhere like East Tamaki I'll concede would be a bit more tricky however).

By the way, the mere fact you can see the Skytower doesn't really count for much - I know some people that can see it from the dirt road they live on as well.

GV27

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#2880619 7-Mar-2022 19:30

quickymart:

By the way, the mere fact you can see the Skytower doesn't really count for much - I know some people that can see it from the dirt road they live on as well.

Well I'm between Westgate and Lincoln Road, so I'm like 20km away. Not a huge amount of distance, but basically a transport black hole, and with more and more houses going in every day.

Granted it's not on the inner Link bus route, but it's not like it's Dairy Flat either.

MurrayM

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#2880933 8-Mar-2022 10:16

I live 11 minutes drive away from my work on Auckland's North Shore and the only way I can bus to work is if I catch a bus, walk for some time, wait, catch a second bus. There are no direct bus routes between the suburb I live in (Bayview) and where I work (Constellation Drive).

Actually I tell a lie, there IS a single bus I could catch, but it involves a walk through a bush reserve. The Journey Planner says it will only take me 7 minutes to walk through the reserve but I've done it before and I know it would take at least 15 minutes as there are some very steep hills in the reserve and last time I went through several trees had fallen over the track. So I'd arrive at the bus stop in a very hot and sweaty mess (and in the winter I'd probably be quite wet and muddy too).

If I worked in the CBD then travelling by bus would be a breeze (I used to do it back in the 80's).

invisibleman18

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#2881169 8-Mar-2022 13:34

Getting off topic now but when I was going to University in Auckland I lived at home in the Meadowlands area and guess was quite lucky there was a direct bus from a bus stop at the end of our street. It was just a long journey - probably an hour at the quickest, and could easily be more like 90 minutes in bad weather or peak times. And my class times always seemed to work out that I was traveling in at least one peak time per day, sometimes both. Thankfully my stop was one of the first on the route so I'd always at least get a seat going in, but often had to stand most of the way coming home. Sometimes had to get a different bus home which would finish a 20 minute walk from home - my main one was less frequent so could mean waiting another hour. But after finishing the route they still had to drive past my stop on the way back to the depot anyway so sometimes the driver was nice enough to drop me there if I was the only person left.

Can remember having 8am classes as the only options for particular courses sometimes which in winter was a little unpleasant having to get out for a 6.30 bus and found I would end up having a cold for half the year. Guess I'd have been doing that for a long time if I got a job in Auckland after Uni. Ended up moving to Wellington for a job where the transport, although not always ideal, has been much more convenient. I've always managed to live either on a direct bus or train route into the CBD although buses can still take a long time in peak traffic. Currently on a train route where the drive to the station (Melling) in peak traffic usually takes longer than the train ride itself.

elpenguino

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#2883584 9-Mar-2022 11:28

MurrayM:

I live 11 minutes drive away from my work on Auckland's North Shore and the only way I can bus to work is if I catch a bus, walk for some time, wait, catch a second bus. There are no direct bus routes between the suburb I live in (Bayview) and where I work (Constellation Drive).

Actually I tell a lie, there IS a single bus I could catch, but it involves a walk through a bush reserve. The Journey Planner says it will only take me 7 minutes to walk through the reserve but I've done it before and I know it would take at least 15 minutes as there are some very steep hills in the reserve and last time I went through several trees had fallen over the track. So I'd arrive at the bus stop in a very hot and sweaty mess (and in the winter I'd probably be quite wet and muddy too).

If I worked in the CBD then travelling by bus would be a breeze (I used to do it back in the 80's).

Biking and e-biking is a viable way to make those non spoke-to-hub journeys. Especially when the distances are not large. Biking is essentially free once you have a bike.

I cycled to work for years when we had small kids, lower income and one car and it really helped us.

Most of the posters in this thread are just like chimpanzees on MDMA, full of feelings of bonhomie, joy, and optimism. Fred99 8/4/21

quickymart

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#2883650 9-Mar-2022 12:07

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2022/03/christopher-luxon-wiggles-around-answering-whether-national-will-remove-highest-tax-rate.html

Also:

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/christopher-luxon-wont-say-if-tax-cuts-will-be-staggered-or-if-landlords-should-cut-rents-after-being-given-tax-cuts/IIKUPY3W4QZCCPFVIKTKUXS3SU/

GV27

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#2883724 9-Mar-2022 12:56

My fault for not pulling down $180K a year I guess

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Handle9

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#2883914 9-Mar-2022 18:34

GV27:

My fault for not pulling down $180K a year I guess

The top tax rate is at $79,000 according to Luxon....

antonknee

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#2883933 9-Mar-2022 18:44

Luxon and the team supporting him are appearing less competent and more inconsistent day by day. Why do we have yet another large fiscal hole in National's plans, and an inability to answer questions and stick to one story? Though of course expecting any politician to honestly answer questions is a fool's errand...

alexx

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#2883997 9-Mar-2022 20:22

Removing regional fuel tax sounds good on paper, but their purpose is to support transport projects that would otherwise be delayed or not funded. This would seem like a bad time to cancel public transport projects.

Perhaps National is suggesting these projects should be funded by rate increases?

Each time there is a plan to improve public transport in Auckland, and this goes all the way back to former Auckland Mayor Sir Dove-Myer Robinson and his rapid rail plan in the 1960s, the road transport lobby groups, ratepayer groups and the nimbys fight against it. National usually supports the "no" option, but of course they will usually say they are not against public transport, just not this particular plan.

Their answer as always is reduced taxes and moar roads. Unless the current low city traffic due to Omicron remains the norm, this isn't a reasonable option any more for Auckland as we don't even have room for all the buses, let alone all the cars needed to bring people into the city.

Tax cuts for the rich seem a very simplistic trickle down policy for someone that was recently talking about divisions in New Zealand. Is this really going to help the people most affected by inflation? If you are going to criticise Hospital ICU capacity, then people might expect a health policy announcement. We know that no single party is solely responsible for neglecting our public health system, so this might be one area where National could offer some new ideas.

#include <standard.disclaimer>

MurrayM

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#2884169 10-Mar-2022 10:18

elpenguino:

Biking and e-biking is a viable way to make those non spoke-to-hub journeys. Especially when the distances are not large. Biking is essentially free once you have a bike.

I cycled to work for years when we had small kids, lower income and one car and it really helped us.

I'm not against cycling, but there are no cycle lanes on the journey from my home to my work and I often encounter cyclists dodging parked cars and moving cars when travelling down Sunset Road and think they're really taking their lives in their hands. It just looks to dangerous to me.

quickymart

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#2884239 10-Mar-2022 11:04

Christopher Luxon was interviewed by The Spinoff, published today: https://thespinoff.co.nz/the-bulletin/10-03-2022/an-interview-with-christopher-luxon

GV27

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#2884312 10-Mar-2022 11:31

alexx:

Each time there is a plan to improve public transport in Auckland, and this goes all the way back to former Auckland Mayor Sir Dove-Myer Robinson and his rapid rail plan in the 1960s, the road transport lobby groups, ratepayer groups and the nimbys fight against it. National usually supports the "no" option, but of course they will usually say they are not against public transport, just not this particular plan.

We don't seem to be getting stuff like light rail or the bus improvements out West any quicker with the fuel tax. They're just getting constantly pushed back and deferred.

If that's an association that's possible for people to make (albeit wrongly) then that's a reflection on the current government and entirely a mess of their own making.

elpenguino

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#2884383 10-Mar-2022 13:30

alexx:

Tax cuts for the rich seem a very simplistic trickle down policy for someone that was recently talking about divisions in New Zealand. Is this really going to help the people most affected by inflation? If you are going to criticise Hospital ICU capacity, then people might expect a health policy announcement. We know that no single party is solely responsible for neglecting our public health system, so this might be one area where National could offer some new ideas.

So far we've had:

1 - tax cuts

If Luxon is as bereft of ideas as he looks, my predictions for future announcements are :

2 - tough on law and order

3 - beneficiary bashing.

These dog whistles ignore the facts that :

a - crime is generally decreasing

b - unemployment is effectively zero ( you'll never get below 3% for various reasons ) and far more social welfare money is spent on superannuation than unemployment benefits.

Most of the posters in this thread are just like chimpanzees on MDMA, full of feelings of bonhomie, joy, and optimism. Fred99 8/4/21

quickymart

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#2884397 10-Mar-2022 14:00

I don't think he's right when he says the whole country is divided, either - not when it comes to the anti-vaxxers, at least; they are very much in the minority.

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