Belfast

Doubling down on a climate-blind obsession with motorways, the National Party has pledged an eye-watering $2.55 billion in public funds towards sprawling highway projects across Canterbury and South Auckland.

Transport spokesperson Chris Bishop announced an immediate $800 million allocation for the 11-kilometre Belfast to Pegasus motorway and Woodend bypass, paired with a massive $1.75 billion commitment for the long-contested Mill Road corridor, alongside $100 million more for route protection.

This dogmatic pour of taxpayer billions into asphalt comes despite Mill Road's two-decade legacy of legal battles with climate advocacy groups and the prolonged anxiety forced upon nearly 300 affected property owners, with the announcement leading to a back-and-forth between Chris Bishop and Winston Peters claiming credit and Chris Bishop and Auckland Councillor Richard Hills over the government's yo-yo attitude to funding Mill Road, having recently told councillors it was not a priority for the government.

By funneling vast public resources into inducing car dependency and suburban sprawl, National continues to ignore both the climate crisis and basic economics of modern transport, prioritizing high-emission motorways over sustainable, accessible transport.

Exactly.

Just quickly before I take a break, just a reminder that one of the men in blue, Chris Bishop, is gonna be with us after 5:00 to sell us the Mill Road, uh, upgrade, and why he's actually gonna do it this time, and also the 800 mil going to Belfast to Pegas- uh, Pegasus, that, that, that motorway down south.

Nine away from 5:00.

All right, you're back with the Front Bench.

There's a lot of work that has to happen before a road starts construction.

This road here, Belfast to Pegasus, has had the pre-implementation work that's been done, it's had the property purchases, and it's been consented.

It's good to go.

We're announcing that we'll start that next year if we're re-elected.

Now, where were you yesterday? I was in Christchurch.

What happened? Well, it was sleeting where I was, around the palms, but it was also snowing in Belfast.

Yep, well, there you go.

And probably in other places in Christchurch.

Well, it does apply to businesses.

I met a lovely baker in Belfast the other day.

He's been here 20 years, built his bakery, bought the building.

When he sells that building to retire, he's got to pay a 28% capital.

We are quite a car-centric city, and we've built a city that's been really focused towards cars.

And we've constantly been trying to in- increase the investment in our existing public transport network, uh, which is a program of work that we've been dedicated over the next 10 years for improving the public transport, leading to the mass rapid transit, uh, proposal that was put out a few years ago, which was looking at moving people from the, the Belfast to Hornby as a stage one, and then to the Rolleston t- and, uh, Rangiora areas in a stage two.

That's a huge opportunity, but we must get our existing public transport network up to running, uh, so that it feeds into that.

And we've got massive underinvestment in both our public transport and, uh, network that we've got currently.

I'm listening to you.

I'm putting you back at the center." So Lord, we just declare that today over this place, over every campus, Belfast, Grahams Road out there in Burnside, here in this city, and the future campuses to come.

We declare Jesus Christ, you are the center of it all.

You're the name above every other name.