Fran O’Sullivan points out the rather large elephant sitting in Simon Bridges and the National party’s corner when it comes to infrastructure spending:
Simon Bridges must not have heard of the old poker maxim: “If you can’t work out who is being screwed, walk away from the table because it is you.”
Bridges’ claim that the Government has stolen National’s infrastructure policies by announcing a big spend-up on roads elicited a polished response from the Coalition Government. At its most basic this simply boils down to “Diddums”.
It would have been more productive for the National Leader to throw his cards back on the table and open a new attack game.
But he dug himself into a corner by claiming (erroneously) that the Government had no new ideas of its own when it came to infrastructure.
Problem for him is the Government is on solid ground to say Bridges had plenty of opportunities himself, back in the day when he was National’s transport minister, to ensure funding for projects like Auckland’s Mill Rd and Penlink; two projects which have long been promoted to open the way to vast new housing projects in Drury (to Auckland’s South) and commercial estates on the Whangaparaoa Peninsula, and, to get them under way.
But that did not happen.
And who was the Transport Minister under John Key? That’s right, it was Simon Bridges.
These projects did not emerge from the previous National Cabinet holding some sort of policy seance.
They emerged through sensible bureaucratic planning processes to evolve transport projects to meet Auckland’s need to meet population growth projections.
All National had to do was to fund them, but they didn’t, and now they are crying that the government has dusted off the plans and done that which National should have done years ago.
Not only will there be new roads – but as Transport Minister Phil Twyford indicated to me – there will be a strong focus on multi-modal transport including mass transit, dedicated cycleways, the expansion of rail lines and new stations.
NZ Herald
What no one has yet realised about these new roads, is that they won’t all be available for car owners to use. Huge chunks of then are going to be dedicated bus lanes that no car will be allowed on. The clue is the use of the words “multi-modal transport”.
I said yesterday that an election campaign with a slogan “National; not quite as bad as the other lot” isn’t a winning proposition. That does not provide an impetus for the voting public to change.
Fran O’Sullivan’s piece reminds me of the old Kenny Rogers song The Gambler.
I don’t think Bridges knows when to hold ’em, and he certainly has no idea when to fold ’em. He is certainly out of aces.