Last night the TV News on both MSM channels led with the congestion that has been caused on State Highway 1 between Whangarei and Auckland by a container ship that had berthed at Whangarei because of, yes, congestion, at Auckland’s port.

The question that needs to be asked — because neither pro-Labour news broadcaster did — is why has this government not upgraded the North Auckland railway line so that the containers could have been moved by rail instead? Now 2,700 extra truck trips are needed.

Properly functioning freight railway lines would avoid the disruption to motorists that big trucks clogging the roads cause, and would also substantially reduce deterioration of the roads, requiring road works.

Instead, this government seems to spend most of its time creating bureaucracies to enforce the wants of the ‘Woke’ brigade, rather than dealing with the infrastructure crisis. It took the National Party during the election campaign to list, and promise to deal with, $30 billion of projects that this government has neglected.