The thorny old issue of political cronyism has reared its ugly head again following the announcement of the Board of Directors for the new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA). National has been quick to criticise the make-up of the Board which includes Labour Party chief, Mike Williams, as well as a number of other people with strong links to the Labour Party.

Biased View. Transport spokesman, Maurice Williamson, is particularly incensed at the inclusion of Christine Caughey who has been vigorously campaigning against motorway expansion in the Auckland region in favour of more investment in the region’s commuter rail and other public transport networks. Williamson’s reaction is once again proof he and probably the rest of the National Party has little interest in seeing a more balanced approach to the provision of land transport infrastructure. In dollar terms, spending even under Labour, continues to be overwhelmingly dominated by road building despite concerns over high fuel prices and pollution from road transport.

Wider Role Ignored. Williamson appears to be out of step with these concerns and also seems to believe the new agency is just Transit NZ in drag. Obviously he hasn’t realised NZTA is also charged with funding public transport and initiatives relating to cycling and walking. This being the case, it is entirely acceptable to have at least one person on the Board who is an advocate of modes of transport other than roading. Perhaps he doesn’t really believe in having a diversity of opinions and robust debate over what projects are funded and their priority. Williamson would rather stack the Board with his own stooges it would seem. If the opinion polls are to be believed, he may well get his chance. It will be interesting to see how he may react to any criticism of subsequent National-sponsored appointments.

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