Brownlee Tells Us How Important The Gorge Is
Before Parliament adjourned last year I put a handful of questions to new Transport Minster Gerry Brownlee. They weren’t terribly challenging, just getting an idea of what information the Government had gathered on the Manawatu Gorge and what solutions they might be looking at.
It wouldn’t have taken much effort to pull together some standard answers. But apparently even that was too much effort for Gerry. This is what I got back:
Question: What is the expected total cost of work to re-open the Manawatu Gorge road?
Portfolio: Transport
Minister: Hon Gerry Brownlee
Date Lodged:21/12/2011
Answer Text: I am unable to provide a response at this time and undertake to provide the member with a final response at a later date
Attachment: None
Date Received:16/01/2012
__________
Question: What reports or briefings, if any, has he received estimating the cost of proposed options for improving road access between Palmerston North and Napier?
Portfolio: Transport
Minister: Hon Gerry Brownlee
Date Lodged:21/12/2011
Answer Text: I am unable to provide a response at this time and undertake to provide the member with a final response at a later date
Attachment: None
Date Received:16/01/2012
__________
Question: What options, if any, is he considering for improving road access between Palmerston North and Napier?
Portfolio: Transport
Minister: Hon Gerry Brownlee
Date Lodged:21/12/2011
Answer Text: I am unable to provide a response at this time and undertake to provide the member with a final response at a later date
Attachment: None
Date Received:16/01/2012
And so it went on for these questions too:
What is the total annual cost of work to clear slips and other causes of closure to the Manawatu Gorge road for each year since 1996?
What is the total cost to date of work to re-open the Manawatu Gorge road since August 18 2011?
What reports, if any, has he received regarding closure of the Manawatu Gorge road since August 18 2011? When does he expect the Manawatu Gorge road to be re-opened?
So while the closure of the Gorge is costing our region money and endangering our safety, the Government hasn’t even got the energy to answer a few simple questions. Obviously my faith in Gerry was misguided.
Fix The Gorge – But Then What?
145 days after the latest closure of the Manawatu Gorge commenced, any signs that our primary road link to Hawkes Bay, Wairarapa and, most importantly, the Port of Napier will reopen are still well over the horizon. With the summer holiday upon us, many more unlucky travellers have now experienced the frustration of being stuck behind a heavy vehicle not at all suited to the undulating twists of the Saddle Road. For those who travel the route daily, the journey’s additional complications have become far more onerous than a pesky inconvenience. It’s costing money and endangering travellers’ safety.
No one can fault the clean-up operation. That it is taking so long is not the fault of the NZ Transport Authority, the Government or the contractors working on the cliff-face. In fact, we should all acknowledge the skill and bravery of those workers who are tackling what is a colossal engineering challenge that cannot be rushed. We will be in their debt when the work is done.
But once it is done and the road re-opened, how long will it be before another slip closes it again? We can’t answer that question but we know that closures are inevitable. Some will be small, others will be large and there is nothing to say that even more substantial slips than the ones that caused the current closure will not occur. That is the nature of the Gorge’s geology and geography.
Constant closure would not be tolerated on roads – dare I say it – further North. There are strong economic and safety arguments in favour of building better transport links to the East of Palmerston North and doing so is long overdue.
Will this just be another opportunity to overlook the provinces or will the Government make a serious assessment of the options available and act decisively in favour of our region?
Printed in the Manawatu Guardian 12.01.2012
Good News For The Gorge?
The new cabinet has been announced and Gerry Brownlee is the Minister of Transport.
This gives me some hope that a solution to the Manawatu Gorge problem may get greater priority than it did under Steven Joyce.
Although Gerry is still an ‘urban’ MP, he’s not from Auckland and that’s a good start. Further, Gerry’s experience as the Minister for the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery should have shown him the value of working across levels of governance and across party lines to get positive outcomes.
I have heard mixed reviews about Gerry’s performance after the earthquakes but I have heard enough that is positive to believe there might a chance he will work collaboratively to get the result our region needs.
Thank You Palmerston North
Last night was, to say the very least, bitter-sweet. On the one hand, we successfully held Palmerston North and increased the majority 3-fold. On the other hand the party vote in Palmerston North reflected the swing across the country and Labour was firmly in second place behind National.
It’s worth noting, though, that the Government parties (National, ACT, United Future, Maori) amassed 13,755 party votes in Palmerston North whereas the Opposition (Labour, Greens, NZ First, Mana) collected 14,833 between us. Palmerston North remains a left-leaning city, if ever-so-slightly.
There are plenty of challenges ahead both for Palmerston North and for Labour and in my roles as electorate MP and member of the Labour caucus I intend to tackle those head on.
Today, however, I’m getting some rest and enjoying this wonderful sunshine.
Thank you to everyone who voted for me, volunteered for the campaign or supported us with positive thoughts. You got us over the line and you elected me to get back to work for you. That’s exactly what I intend to do.
Last Thoughts Before Tomorrow
Tomorrow you get your chance to have your say on a number of things: Which party you want to lead the Government. Who you want to represent Palmerston North in Parliament. Whether or not we should keep MMP.
Each is separate decision. I have strong views on each, none of which will come as any surprise to anyone.
I think you should party vote Labour principally because only Labour has been able to show New Zealand that we have a plan to grow and diversify our economy, create jobs and ensure that everyone gets a fair go.
I think you should electorate vote Iain Lees-Galloway because I have the experience to do the job well, I have the skills required and I have focused on local issues that are important to our region’s economic, social and environmental development. I see my job as being Palmerston North’s voice in Parliament, not my party’s voice in Palmerston North.
I think you should vote to keep MMP because it is the only system on offer that provides genuine proportional representation where your vote counts no matter where you live or who you are.
But ultimately what really matters is what you think. I hope we have done a good job of convincing you to agree with me on all of these questions, or at least some of them.
Whatever the outcome, I’ve enjoyed this campaign immensely. I love the contest of ideas and I love working alongside the committed and passionate group of people who make up my campaign team.
One last thing: I think you should VOTE! We are privileged to have the right to and we should all make the most of it!
