Labour revealed its harbour crossing plan and the Greens promised a national dental service, while Act pledged ‘day one’ cuts to multiple government projects, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.
Labour goes all-in on harbour tunnels
In late March then transport minister Michael Wood unveiled five options for an additional Auckland harbour connection. On Sunday, his successor David Parker joined prime minister Chris Hipkins to announce the winner: two tunnels for cars and trucks between central Auckland and Akoranga on the North Shore, plus a separate light rail tunnel between Wynyard Quarter and Albany. Lanes on the harbour bridge will be altered to allow for pedestrians and cyclists. This is the most ambitious of the plans on the table, costing between $35 billion and $44.5b; Waka Kotahi says it will improve travel times to downtown from Albany and Takapuna by about 20%. Greens co-leader James Shaw says it’s “a bit bonkers to be building more roads” during a climate crisis, while National is supporting the plan but expressing doubt that Labour will be able to meet its scheduled start date of 2029. Mayor Wayne Brown thinks the proposal is about “politics, not transport” and wants the government to work with the council “on some better, faster and cheaper plans”.
Greens unveil plan for free dental
The Green Party announced a plan for establishing a national dental service providing free dental care for all. The service would provide all the standard non-cosmetic care currently accessible through a private dentist, from cleanings and fillings to oral surgery and complex treatment plans, and would include “mobile dental vans, portable clinics, and funding for community dental clinics, including on marae”, reports Stuff’s Bridie Witton. The service would be funded by the Greens’ wealth tax: 2.5% on net assets above $2 million held by an individual and above $4m for a couple. Announcing the policy, James Shaw noted that dental care in Aotearoa is now among the most expensive in the world, with a “higher rate of unmet dental care… because of cost” than even the US.
Act pledges to halve MBIE’s staff numbers
Act is promising to cut the 6000-strong workforce at the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) by half, and take an axe to a plethora of government projects which leader David Seymour says will be cancelled on “day one”. The projects on the chopping block include (deep breath) Three Waters, the He Waka Eke Noa climate action partnership with farmers, Auckland light rail, fees-free tertiary education, the Provincial Growth Fund, the Resource Management Act reforms, Callaghan Innovation, the Ministry of Education’s curriculum refresh and Let’s Get Wellington Moving, reports Stuff’s Warren Gamble. It’s all part of Act’s previously announced plan to slash government spending by $9.5b a year. Seymour announced the policy to a Nelson audience of over 350 people, which he says is more than three times bigger than the one during his 2020 election campaign stop.
Robertson talks GST and ‘fiscal holes’
Finance minister Grant Robertson has again refuted claims of a $20 – $30b “hole” in the government accounts. Speaking to Jack Tame on Q&A, he expressed frustration that “people can just make a claim with any old thing attached to it. And then I have to respond to that.” He said he’d recently met with public service bosses but refused to say whether he set them specific spending reduction targets – NZ First’s Winston Peters claims they’ve been instructed to cut their budgets by 10%. In what seems to be further confirmation that cuts to GST on fruit and vegetables are on the table, Robertson softened his previously staunchly oppositional stance. Last year he said the idea was an “absolute boondoggle”; now he thinks that “boondoggles can be worked through”.