Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 31/1/25

Not only can we drive faster – our chances of hitting potholes are being reduced (thanks to a $3.9bn govt investment)

Great news flowed today from Transport Minister Chris Bishop. Fresh from enabling us to put the foot down and drive at higher speeds on several roads and highways, today Bishop said potholes are being repaired more quickly, too.

Around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways are being repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, he says.

Kerre Woodham: The pothole fund gives me hope

Do you know what we need after a big night of celebrating Newstalk ZB cleaning up at the radio awards? We need pothole chat, that's what we need. Have a listen to Simeon Brown, the transport minister, talking about the $4 billion pothole prevention program that was announced this morning.

Cam Slater: Why Do I Suspect All We Will Get Are More Road Cones?

The Government has announced they are going to massively increase funding to fix potholes on state highways and local roads. It’s billions of dollars, just on potholes… yes billions… with a b.

Transport Minister Simeon Brown is celebrating Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency’s confirmation of increased ring-fenced funding for pothole prevention.

Max Salmon: Fuel tax is a dying revenue source

New Zealand is a long, narrow country with a very low population density. Air transport is expensive and passenger rail almost non-existent. As a result, our cities, towns, and rural communities rely heavily on our local and national road network.

To pay for this network, New Zealand relies materially on a tax on the petrol we put in our cars, known as the Fuel Excise Duty (FED). Traditionally, this has been a low-cost funding tool. Nearly every vehicle in New Zealand uses petrol. The tax is simple to collect, the revenue generated scaled with road use, and it increased with the consumer’s road use.

Garrick Tremain: Potholes

 Here is Garrick Tremain's cartoon commentary on the condition of NZ's roads! 

Kerre Woodham: Back to reality, back to an election campaign

What a weekend of sport.

It's been exhausting — and that's just watching it. The All Blacks, the Warriors, a new Wimbledon champion who looks to be beginning a new era in men's tennis, and we have the FIFA Women's world cup kicking off this Thursday.

So, a lovely weekend of escapist exhilaration — and now it's back to reality. Back to an election campaign, and a busy weekend for our politicians. ACT released its list, Chris Hipkins announced Labour's campaign slogan ‘In it for you,’ and Christopher Luxon announced that National would be fixing potholes.

Kerre Woodham: A road map for success prioritises fixing our roads

Now some of you when we were talking about roading last year and the potholes and the damage being done to cars and trucks, the state of the roads, some of you might have been wondering what on Earth were banging on about? Most of us don't drive far. Short car trips under 2kms make up nearly a third of all car trips. So, listening to people talking about the appalling state of our roading infrastructure was probably not something directly affecting you.

But perhaps over Christmas, if you managed to get away, you got the dubious pleasure of experiencing our roads for yourselves. And driving to the conditions on occasion, the appalling conditions, means you may well have a greater appreciation for the concerns of the National Road Carriers Association, who say the biggest issue for the road transport industry is the shocking state of New Zealand roads.