I am really not a fan of political candidates bullshitting that they and only they can get the unachievable in politics.
John Tamihere – candidate for Auckland city Mayor, is just the epitome of this kind of blowhard. Politically over many years, he has been the kind of fool who seems to keep his brain mounted right next to his testicles to inform his mouth what to say.
He released a transport policy fantasy that appears to have been born directly out of a sustained release of testosterone while tripping on illegal substances in an alternate universe.
So far he has been promising money that the city doesn’t have for multiple projects on transport infrastructure that is owned and operated by the state. Funding that he has doesn’t have a shit show of getting because it is based on funding that the rest of NZ is also competing for. He also says that he can get them happening on impossible timeframes.
Each project will cause traffic chaos while they’re implemented because they will require construction on existing infrastructure while it continues to run. Ask anyone who has had to deal with the choke points on the much needed – just look at the joy for motorists that has been the much needed Southern Corridor Improvements for the last 4 years.
Most of the transport he is blithfully talking about isn’t Auckland City controlled. Changes to them depend on national funding because they are state roads. But there is a curious silence about the kind of business case that would be required to convince the rest of NZ to fund them. I guess that level of detail was too hard.
Even looking at his policy for the locally controlled transport infrastructure is just sheer fantasy. Somehow cutting the regional petrol tax that is funding the existing expansion is meant to magically cause transport projects to rise. Apparently by sweetheart deals with capital funding
Mr Tamihere said: “There are investors wanting to invest in park and ride facilities that will help get this city out of grid lock,
I’m sure that there are. All that they will require is the free land, a removal of all local input during the planning process, zero risk built into secret contracts that require ratepayers to be liable for the private profits, and a massive cost to Aucklanders. After all, every PPP scheme I have ever looked at closely seems to contain those elements.
Auckland is a city that is currently bumping up against its debt ceiling. Rate payers (like myself) have a steadily rising price to pay for the previous lack of local transport work by his political partners in National’s C&R over past decades. Because of this beholden relationship, it appears that chopping the regional petrol tax that is helping to user fund current local transport projects is part of the deal. So is the hugely expensive East-West road link because there is no way that makes any sense nationally.
In fact the actual John Tamihere transport policy has a complete lack of ANY information about how any of this is going to get funded. Which really is my signal that he really is a flatulent do-nothing whose only really useful role appears to be a radio shock jock.
John Tamihere comes across as just being another dimwitted loud-mouthed conservative who is good at being a chattering critic and and grossly unrealistic at the reality of actually doing anything. Reminds me of John Banks as mayor or John Tamihere’s previous outing as a MP.
I think I’ll just vote for Goff who is actually working on a reality that has funding plans and way less blowhard magic.
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