National road freight association Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand has praised outgoing Transport Minister Simeon Brown and welcomed his successor, Chris Bishop, following a ministerial reshuffle announced by Prime Minister Chris Luxon on Sunday.

Chief Executive Dom Kalasih said that Minister Brown, who is the new Minister of Health, made a lot of progress during his Transport tenure. He refocused transport investment on the essentials, particularly road maintenance and improvements, road policing, and emphasis on achieving value for money.

"Over the past 12 months we’ve seen funding approved for Roads of National Significance projects including Belfast to Pegasus Motorway and Woodend Bypass Road of National Significance and Hawke’s Bay Expressway. There has been fast-track consenting enabled for 29 key road, rail, and port projects, and substantial investment in road maintenance and pot-hole repair. This all bodes well for future growth and reflects the outgoing Minister’s focus on delivery."

Kalasih says that Minister Brown and the Coalition Government had also committed to using additional revenue tools to help address the transport deficit, including increased use of tolling, enabling congestion charging, and moving petrol vehicles from fuel excise duty to a more equitable universal road user charging scheme.

"Given the country is facing a large transport funding deficit, the work Minister Brown and his Ministerial colleagues undertook around new revenue sources has been critically important. We need a constructive, bipartisan, discussion about how we fund the transport system into the future."

Transporting New Zealand is also welcoming incoming Minister of Transport Chris Bishop.

"Minister Bishop’s appointment will provide continuity to the portfolio, given his roles as Minister for Infrastructure and Minister Responsible for RMA Reform. The Minister previously held the shadow transport portfolio while in opposition, so he knows the sector well."

"We look forward to working with the Minister to improve transport outcomes for the entire country, particularly lifting productivity, safety, and freight efficiency."

Transporting New Zealand has also acknowledged outgoing Associate Minister of Transport Matt Doocey and incoming Associate Minister James Meager.

"Having Minister Meager holding the newly created role of Minister for the South Island along with being Associate Minister of Transport is a positive signal to our South Island members about the Coalition Government’s commitment to the mainland and its roading network."

About Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand

Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand is the peak national membership association representing the road freight transport industry. Our members operate urban, rural and inter- regional commercial freight transport services throughout the country.

Road is the dominant freight mode in New Zealand, transporting 92.8% of the freight task on a tonnage basis, and 75.1% on a tonne-km basis. The road freight transport industry employs over 34,000 people across more than 4700 businesses, with an annual turnover of $6 billion.

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