Road user charge increase truckies' drive/march this Friday 4 July

[jim.cox]

just makes me more even more convinced...

...that rail is a better way to move freight

[Murray]

Lets put Thomas away for a moment.

So explain to me ,Fuel costs rise, the economy dies , we suffer , the govt profits, & then they line up for some more. The economy is limping so lets just kick it in the knees !!
What is the rationale behind this thinking.

Quite simple - more people unemployed and dependent of social welfare governmenet handouts therefore tied into having to vote for a labour government.

[Sanx]

Dude read some of my posts. The trucks do fuck the road much much faster than any private vehicle ever will. Cars basically do not damage the roads. The weather and trucks are pretty much the only things that ruin roads. And don't compare our roads to the USA/Europe. Our roads are not designed to be anywhere near as strong as theirs cause we simply cannot afford it.

Oh bullshit. NZ can afford decent roads. It's just that the authorities concerned know that they can get away with doing the cheapest nastiest shitiest job possible preferring short-term gain to long-term savings.

Sure - the initial capital costs would go up, but the savings resulting from not having the road crews out every two weeks to patch up jobs done only six months previously would more than likely cover it. The more decent roads you build, the fewer repairs you need. Do what every other country in the world does and absorb those costs over the expected lifetime of the road itself. It's simple economics, but obviously not quite simple enough for Komrade Helen and Politburo-of-fools to understand.

[Patch]

Dude read some of my posts. The trucks do fuck the road much much faster than any private vehicle ever will. Cars basically do not damage the roads.

Fuckoff Noddy. Anybody using our shit roads will fuck them - they're crap cause the monkeys making the roads are fuckin useless.


Can't afford it?? How the fuck does Grandpa Cullen end up with a 4 billion dollar surplus then??

$4,000,000,000

Who the hell are you trying to kid??

[Street Gerbil]

Just arrived to the office after my morning commute from Mt. Welly to Penrose via CBD. The truckies were awesome. Took some photos too but no card reader at work.

[cooneyr]

I thought our roads were made out of whatever shit rock had just been blasted from the nearest hill.....

There is a lot of bitumen in the surfacing and steel in the bridges/culverts/guardrails(dear I say it WRB), price increases in these goods are causing significant grief to the road construction industry.

In the north island that is what is used for aggregate and it is not actually that shitty. The Basalt rock blasted from the volcanoes is pretty bloody good, there aint that many volcanoes that the greenies will let us blow up though.

Oh bullshit. NZ can afford decent roads. It's just that the authorities concerned know that they can get away with doing the cheapest nastiest shitiest job possible preferring short-term gain to long-term savings.

Sure - the initial capital costs would go up, but the savings resulting from not having the road crews out every two weeks to patch up jobs done only six months previously would more than likely cover it. The more decent roads you build, the fewer repairs you need. Do what every other country in the world does and absorb those costs over the expected lifetime of the road itself. It's simple economics, but obviously not quite simple enough for Komrade Helen and Politburo-of-fools to understand.

All good in theory but where is all this additional money going to come from for the significantly larger up front capital costs? A loan, that's a bright idea - NOT. You are right that a better built road that will last longer but it is just not a financially viable option for NZ. Work investigating this was done right through the 70/80/90's. The expense of better pavements is not worth it.

Fuckoff Noddy. Anybody using our shit roads will fuck them - they're crap cause the monkeys making the roads are fuckin useless.


Can't afford it?? How the fuck does Grandpa Cullen end up with a 4 billion dollar surplus then??

$4,000,000,000

Who the hell are you trying to kid??

Whatever dude - you ever worked in a road crew or as professional engineer - I have/do. Yes there are monkeys in every profession but our roads are built to a good quality and to their design, which in turn is driven by the financial situation i.e. be we build the best roads we can afford. Call me noddy again when you have actually done some research and know what you are talking about - twat.

We have a surplus right - but you lot want a tax cut - make your minds up.

R

[trustme]

Estimated surplus 2.6 billion ,Actual surplus well over 5 Billion ,figures out this morning The economy is shrinking , but the govt take is increasing
I know !!! , why don,t we raise taxes
Still waiting for an explanation, besides that of my fellow cynic Murray.

My dearest Cooney , this is a recipe for a major recession
when an economy goes sour most governments take actions to stimulate an economy , our govt has taken the option of punishing the economy to preserve their surplus
Its the govt that wants it both ways, & we get it no ways
The truckies like everyone else just want a fair shake , that is why the public are so fiercely behind the truckies, the public also are sick of being screwed
Sullen is philosophically opposed to tax cuts, any reduction in personal tax cuts will be off set by an increase in indirect tax like RUC
These idiots in power have lost touch.

[Pixie]

They build better roads designed for more severe weather & traffic conditions, they do it right unlike our cheapskate roads. I have seen reworked sections fall apart in 2 weeks ,[ the old tar hill sth of Kinlieth comes to mind ]

They probably don't use the "roll the clay flat and paint it black" construction technique pioneered by Transit NZ.

[tri boy]

A bit off topic, but I think one of the reasons the govt/Cullen a bleeding more dollars out of joe average is that the huge Japanese Irradashi Bond investments in NZ are due to roll over Aug-Sept this year.(this investment is huge).
If they do not reinvest, (and why would they, things are getting shaky), then our dollar will plummet damn near overnight. (good stimulus for exporters, but the lag time could be an economy breaker).
I predict a Aus/NZ exchange at sub 75cents, closer to 70, or possibly less.
I'm wrong often though(but I did predict the downturn 6months prior to main stream reporting)

[cooneyr]

......My dearest Cooney , this is a recipe for a major recession
when an economy goes sour most governments take actions to stimulate an economy , our govt has taken the option of punishing the economy to preserve their surplus
Its the govt that wants it both ways, & we get it no ways
The truckies like everyone else just want a fair shake , that is why the public are so fiercely behind the truckies, the public also are sick of being screwed
Sullen is philosophically opposed to tax cuts, any reduction in personal tax cuts will be off set by an increase in indirect tax like RUC
These idiots in power have lost touch.

The timing is terrible, I agree completely.

Cheers R