Blogging on liberty, capitalism, reason, international affairs and foreign policy, from a distinctly libertarian and objectivist perspective
10 March 2006
More FM and the right to be racist
Local loop unbundling and subsidies for telecommunications
So I thought I’d go through the media release, which summarises the submission, and consider all of the points. If I was being truly libertarian I would reject competition law and this would be easier, and I wouldn't care about outcomes - but I accept that Telecom's privatisation was done with the owners (and subsequent owners) agreeing to it being regulated under the Commerce Act in order that Telecom provide cost oriented, fair interconnection with its competitors. This is a bare minimum for telecommunications, so I will take that as read. So here are the points from the press release in italics and my response in bold:
Our key message is that there is no 'silver bullet' in telecommunications reform - a multi-pronged strategy is required to deliver a more competitive market in telecommunications. The debate is not just about whether to unbundle the local loop or not. That will not be enough by itself. It will be a very useful step forward but needs to be followed by separating Telecom's wholesale business from its retail business.
Hmm not convinced, and some of its wholesale business faces enormous competition from the likes of BCL and Vodafone. Nowhere in the world has this been done. It is an enormous intervention in the business of a major company, and the last time it was done in New Zealand (electricity) it was against officials’ advice and didn’t deliver.
"Our submission contains proposals in two areas. The first series of proposals deals with increasing competition on the key economic bottleneck in the telecommunications market - the local loop. The second series of proposals deals with the development of other areas of Internet infrastructure.
"On local loop matters, InternetNZ proposes three inter-related steps:
Development of stronger wholesale service options for resellers of Telecom's services, starting with an unconstrained UBS (unbundled bitstream service). Such a service would allow bitstream provision at the maximum feasible line speed, with adequate network provisioning to make such services useful.
Talk to Telecom about it - ask why it wont do it, or whether it will do it if you pay. If Telecom wont do it, it may be because it wouldn’t be profitable, in which case why should it be forced to do so? I'd like a straight answer from Telecom.
Local loop unbundling, allowing service providers to install their own equipment in or near Telecom's local exchanges and cabinets. Growing international experience indicates this allows the development of very high-speed Internet services due to the stronger competitive environment resulting.
How about at the very least, amending the RMA so that telecommunications network operators have the right to lay cables along public corridors wherever other operators have cables, including power companies. This will end the abuse of the RMA by local authorities banning overhead cables where Telecom and power companies already have them. How about explaining why Telecom’s competitors wont pay a price to install equipment near its exchanges? Given the Commerce Act exists and was substantially strengthened by Labour, why have no competitors taken legal action claiming Telecom is acting anti-competitively? Is it possible that infrastructure based competition is not occurring also because competitors would much prefer a free ride with Telecom's infrastructure?
A split of Telecom's wholesale business from its retail business - the only way to ensure fair treatment for all competitors on Telecom's local loop network is to ensure the company faces incentives to deliver this. Only by including Telecom's wholesale business in a separate firewalled division - or a separate company - can one be certain that it will treat all access seekers on an equivalent basis to Telecom's retail division.
Hold on, the entire wholesale business? Including in Wellington and Christchurch and Kapiti where there IS infrastructure based competition? Including the CBDs? Including the toll bypass and international networks? There is no “natural monopoly” outside the provincial and rural local loops, and no justification for splitting the lot - competition on national and international calls is vigorous. Local competition now exists nationwide on Telecom’s network, and cellular is increasingly an option for people who do not want a fixed line. However, using information disclosure regulations along with the Commerce Act should be enough protection against “anti competitive behaviour”. It requires a case to be proven, but when you are talking about interfering with property rights the proof required should be high.
"In these other areas our proposals include the following:
An additional $60m for the Broadband Challenge, to ensure it can deliver meaningful fibre infrastructure to local communities. We understand that the fund, established under the Digital Strategy with a $24m limit, is fully subscribed. Expanding the fund is a simple way to show government commitment to the development of open alternative network infrastructure.
Nice try, but bugger off and look for your subsidies elsewhere! You have no more right to taxpayer’s money to subsidise your industry than farmers, tyre manufacturers, travel agents, shoe repairers or architects. Give that one a rest. If telecommunications companies don’t find it economic to expand infrastructure to certain communities (though I thought you wanted to piggy back off Telecom), then why should businesses, workers, pensioners and others pay for it? What is this about a government funded alternative network infrastructure? Why can’t Telstra Clear or an alliance of Telecom’s competitors do this? Why can’t you? This is no different to asking for Kiwibank, petrol stations or anything else that socialists ask for. Rural roads are paid for by road users and local landowners paying rates - why should telecommunications be different?
Review of state network building - a large number of Crown organisations have network capacity installed around the country, including the developing GSN, Advanced Research Network, SOEs like BCL Ltd and Transpower, and others. It is important their networks are well-coordinated, and that any potential gains they can bring to making the national Internet backbone network more robust and more competitive are fully realised.
Why not require state owned entities to onsell excess capacity, before privatising it?
Review of spectrum allocation policies, to allow better development of community wireless broadband. Current spectrum allocation policies allow the hoarding of spectrum by market participants. These should be reviewed to ensure that communities can easily roll out non-profit wireless broadband services.
Spectrum should be sold, those “hoarding it” value it more than the so called “communities”. Communities are either bunches of people with ideas (which they should pay for) or councils who want to force people to pay for their ideas. If someone buys spectrum and doesn’t use it, it is just like buying land and letting it go fallow - it isn’t your business, as long as the government has sold all of the available spectrum.
Develop a national strategy to roll out fibre-to-the-home services. Most of the best-placed OECD countries are already moving towards very high-speed Internet service rollouts. Copper technology imposes speed limits that don't exist with fibre. A national strategy to get fibre to the home - sooner rather than later - is a vital element in bringing New Zealand up to speed for the digital future.
Hold on, I thought competing infrastructure to Telecom’s network was uneconomic, which is why you want to attack its property rights. NOW you are saying copper is essentially becoming obsolete and the government needs to develop a strategy to replace it. Why? The government did not develop a strategy to roll out the internet in the first place, or a strategy for cellular phone networks, or a strategy for pay television, or a strategy for rollout of PCs in business and homes. Get councils out of the way in planning terms, and get taxes down and let network providers hold their property rights. Very high speed internet service rollouts are not being undertaken as government central planning, outside China and one or two others. Why are you choosing technology? HFC was the technology of the future in 1995, then it became xDSL, now you are claiming fibre to the home - the costs of getting this wrong are potentially enormous. Let Telecom, Telstra Clear, Vodafone and any other entrants invest, without feeling like they need to pull government strings for funding, or for access to each others property - beyond what was agreed at Telecom’s privatisation.
Taken together, this second series of proposals would push the boundaries around Internet service provision, leading to alternative options for those not well served by incumbent providers, far faster Internet access for communities with fibre infrastructure, and concrete plans to bring New Zealand to world class standing for very high speed Internet services over fibre," said Colin Jackson.
You either rely on the incumbent or rely on new entrants to roll out competing networks, you can’t have incentives for both.
"In Australia, it is possible for businesses and householders to buy packages that deliver ADSL2 services with 24mbps downlink speed and 6mbps uplink speed, without data caps, for AUD39.95. Such services are close to 40 times faster than the majority of 'broadband' services available under the current regime.
Not in most of Australia. This has a limited rollout. Why not ask why no one else is providing it, including Telecom.
"The current policy framework and resulting market structure cannot deliver outcomes to match Australia's, because they do not provide competition on the local loop. By far the best way to deliver higher quality, more innovative services is to create a level playing field where competition forces better services at lower prices.
Telecom’s owners bought a network, its competitors didn’t and haven’t offered to buy it from Telecom - it’s a level playing field when you each own the property you bought. What is stopping Telstra Clear from building an alternative network? Its owner is many times the size of Telecom.
"No matter what promises are made by incumbent providers, the fact is that progress in New Zealand will continue to lag behind the OECD, behind Australia - behind any country we might compare ourselves with - until competition is a fact of life, rather than allowed now and then by grace and favour of incumbents.
It’s not grace and favour, it is the right you have through ownership - a right you can get by building your own network or buying it from Telecom.
I’m not convinced - InternetNZ has shown it is either in favour of forcing Telecom to be split, so that its competitors (which in some cases are bigger than Telecom) can use its property, and ALSO it wants subsidies and central planning for competing networks, wireless and fibre, that will bypass Telecom’s network. This is fundamentally inconsistent, unless you simply believe in competition at any cost - including the cost of property rights, and the cost of taxpayers who may or may not ever use high speed internet services.
Telecom’s competitors have two avenues open to them to compete:
1. Build their own networks - lobby to remove restrictions on doing so, but build. If there is going to be demand for fibre to the home, then someone has to build it, and Telecom hasn’t. If it isn’t economic to do so, then don’t ask the government to pay for it.
2. Negotiate with Telecom. I mean seriously, not just to buy access but to buy the entire local loop business into a company owned jointly by Telecom and its competitors. Make Telecom’s shareholders an offer, assuming you believe you can grow this business better than Telecom alone - if you think there should be structural separation, make a serious proposal with money. It may cost a lot of money, it may be cheaper to build your own network in places, but if it costs a lot of money you will only buy it if the benefits are worth it. If not, then Telecom's shareholders have something of more value than what you want. I think all of the Telecom's competitors could form a company to buy 50% of the local loop from Telecom and agree on a way forward for the local copper loop - (although Telecom might want similar access to Telstra Clear's local networks in Wellington and Christchurch). It is too easy to ask the government to give you access to something someone else owns - it is more creative and entrepreneurial to make the owner an offer it can't refuse!
Politics and roads don't mix
The Greens aren’t happy because they don’t like motorways or cars. They would rather spend your money on a very expensive rail option. The Hearings Committee supports a cheaper rail option (although delaying a much needed upgrade of Porirua station – the second busiest in Wellington so money can be spent on the Gully), which is probably the most that is worth doing for rail. The Greens should acknowledge that there should be roading improvements along the corridor.
The Nats, local Labour MPs and United Future are all ecstatic, since they panned the last officials reports, and agree with this one. All are claiming that no more needs to be done, just Transit should “build it” and the money should somehow just appear to do this. The NBR quotes Dunne wanting the private sector to build the road - ummm Peter, Transit has no bulldozers, everything is contracted out, has been since 1989 when you voted to set up the organisation with your Labour colleagues.
All of them are anxious to spend your money, bugger the consequences, it’s popular so it must be done. It doesn’t matter WHOSE money it is – it is just taxes after all, and politicians are elected to spend them, so as long as people want it, it’s ok. Democracy is ok, isn’t it?
Well the Greens do have a point in that Transmission Gully will encourage urban sprawl – fine, I say. If people want to live on Kapiti Coast and pay for the cost of commuting, I wont object – but they wont be. Transmission Gully is proposed without a toll, and that means the money for it either comes from general taxation or by diverting funds from other projects in the Wellington region. In other words, Kapiti commuters will only be paying a fraction of the cost of commuting by car. If there was a toll of around $15 each way, then you’d be talking, but funnily enough none of the advocates for Transmission Gully would pay that, I doubt if most of the property owners along the existing route would pay either (Porirua City Council was unwilling to rate them for it).
That is my first fundamental point – I’d support Transmission Gully, wholeheartedly, if the people who will use it would be willing to pay for it. They wont though, and neither National nor United Future believe in user pays for roads. Arguments about diversion of petrol tax don’t wash either: Wellington contributes about $68 million a year in petrol tax to the Crown account (the petrol tax and road user charges to the National Land Transport Fund are already committed to road maintenance, some modest construction and maintaining public transport subsidies). Labour has already pledged $885 million of Crown account money towards Wellington transport in the next 12 years – MORE than the $68 million a year, not taking into account the $800 million of Crown account money going on projects funded from national allocations, not taking into account money for rail infrastructure!
In short, Wellington transport is already being subsidised by the rest of New Zealand. Just because several thousand Wellingtonians think that it should be, doesn’t make it right – and the National Party should know better.
Secondly, the cost of Transmission Gully is far from certain. Let’s be real here, the road wont be able to start to be built for around 4 years, as it has to go through detailed investigation, design and remaining properties have to be purchased. The cost of major roading projects around the country has gone up enormously, over 100% in some cases, as contractors demand higher prices to upsize their capacity. In the case of Transmission Gully, it is a one-off enormous project – so contractors will have little use for the equipment after it is built – this adds a premium to it. The Avondale extension of SH20 went from $600 million to $800 million to $1.1 billion within 3 years. Transmission Gully faces the same risk. This project has been rated as having very high risks of cost escalation – so talking about the money is very important – the figures the Hearings Committee put together don’t add up, because they don’t take into account inflation. This is why Transit’s latest draft State Highway forecast has less projects that previously envisaged. It’s not politics – it’s the market!
Thirdly, Transmission Gully remains inefficient and one of the worst investments in roading that could be undertaken in the Wellington region. Transmission Gully will make any upgrade of the rail link pointless, as the road will be faster, knocking around 15 minutes off of the car commute time – until you get to Ngauranga, or the Terrace Tunnel. You see it isn’t politically popular to call for a proper bypass of Wellington city – with a second Terrace Tunnel, second Mt Victoria Tunnel and a cut and cover 4-lane arterial bypass (the original Wellington motorway plan abandoned in the early 90s) – it would cost $450 million, have more than double the benefits of Transmission Gully and make a huge difference to inner city Wellington. It would take cars out of Te Aro and remove one-third of the traffic from the waterfront – enabling Jervois Quay to be narrowed to a 4-lane boulevard as has been proposed.
So why? It is politics. Politicians like Peter Dunne, Jenny Brash, Chris Turver, Mark Blumsky, Marian Hobbs, Chris Finlayson, Darren Hughes – deciding on the basis of what pushes people’s buttons. They are not concerned about who pays, as long as it isn’t the people whose votes they are clamouring for. They are not concerned about whether it will deliver net benefits, they want net votes. It’s called porkbarrelling, and if the government agrees to Transmission Gully getting taxpayers funds – it will be the biggest slice of transport pork handled down to Wellington in decades.
The biggest disgrace is that the National Party has hopped on this bandwagon. Politically, it would because it gets the party votes and because voters have short memories. You see Labour is in a position little different to the one National was in when it was in power – a decision on a popular but very poor quality project - objectively speaking, if you had to choose between spending taxpayers money on Transmission Gully or on other projects, you’d choose the other projects almost without fail.
The Nats have abandoned user pays and economic efficiency. Have the Nats also abandoned using statutorily independent boards to weigh up the best way to spend road users money? Let’s use politicians because they know best, after all Mark Blumsky and Chris Finlayson have extensive backgrounds in road engineering, traffic modelling and transport economics…. Not.
In fact, Land Transport New Zealand is required to make decisions on funding projects outside the realm of politics – so that important but unsexy activities like maintenance, widening intersections and bridge replacement get funded because they are worth doing, instead of big politically important projects that aren’t really worth it. Guess who set up that independent funder originally? National. National established Transfund to ensure road user funds were spent on the best projects first, so that, unlike the USA and the UK, road maintenance would come first, followed by small high value projects, then by large projects ranked according to their net returns (measured by benefits) to road users. Those benefits are time savings, fuel savings, reduced accidents, vehicle wear and tear etc.
National did not progress Transmission Gully when it was in government, because it didn’t stack up as a worthwhile project to fund. National supported a major change in the funding system for roads, that would have changed Transit into an SOE – and had the then Transfund buy services on behalf of road users from Transit. Transfund would use petrol tax and road user charges to reflect what motorists were willing to pay for, and Transit could institute tolls or means by which motorists could opt out of petrol tax, and pay for road use directly. Transit would also have been allowed to borrow to build new roads and pay off the cost over time using direct charging. National’s policy was that Transmission Gully would stand or fall on its merits under that system.
Now the National Party believes that roads should be funded on a pork-barrel basis – now don’t get me wrong, Labour’s special funding for Auckland, Bay of Plenty and Wellington transport isn’t that much different.
So what SHOULD politicians say? Well, in the short term, let Transit and Land Transport NZ get on with their jobs. The best solution will never be determined politically, and will not be determined by consultation. Imagine if you ran Air New Zealand politically – well, don’t imagine, think about the late 70s, early 80s. Imagine if you ran Air New Zealand on the basis of public consultation, it would go bankrupt with all of the bright sparks wanting flights from Wellington to LA, or wanting business class seats for everyone on long flights or whatever.
It is, as Hayek said, the fatal conceit. Politicians don’t know any better than consumers, and consumers aren’t deciding this because all you are hearing is noise from people who don’t want to pay for a very large construction project.
How about this comparison? You have three options for $1 billion (lets assume inflation is covered):
1. Build Transmission Gully; or
2. Build a cut and cover tunnel bypass from the Terrace Tunnel (with a second one for 2 lanes southbound) to Mt Victoria Tunnel (also with a second one) and 4 lanes to the airport, plus upgrade Rimutaka Hill Road to a 70km/h standard highway with a continuous passing lane up each side, plus flyovers to eliminate every traffic light controlled intersection on SH2 from Petone to Upper Hutt, and an underpass for Paekakariki and bypass for Pukerua Bay (with a median barrier along the length of the coastal stretch of SH1); or
3. 30,000 more cardio-thoracic operations per year nationwide; or
4. $11 a week tax cut for every employed Wellingtonian (including public servants).
09 March 2006
Transmission Gully proposed by Hearings Committee
These are recommendations, following consultation and the development of a view on the work done to date. They are only a reflection of the results of consultation and amending the plan due to that. The public has had its say, or rather the public that is agitated about it. The recommendations are not binding, and the final decision on the Western Corridor Plan will be made by the Regional Land Transport Committee. EVEN then, Transit’s board does not need to follow what the RLTC says. The Land Transport Act 1998 Section 181(1) states that Transit must ensure that it “takes into account any current regional land transport strategies”. Transit wont proceed with something that is unaffordable.
Transmission Gully has become cheaper, now it is around $955 million, when it has been up to $1.1 billion on some estimates. It still remain unaffordable though, the money for it simply does not exist, unless it is taken from other projects or people. National's answer of using all of the petrol tax money does not wash - through three tranches of funding promised by Labour, Wellington is already getting all of its petrol tax share.
The Hearings Committee assumes that, somehow, there will be funds to cover the gap in cost between the coastal and the Transmission Gully options – some of it is made up by NOT proceeding with valuable projects that need to happen anyway. If anyone thinks the Paekakariki intersection can be tidied up for $1 million, they are kidding themselves. Doing so would probably breach the Land Transport Management Act in itself. Similarly, the Whitford Brown Interchange is a high benefit/cost project that is about access between Porirua and its northern suburbs that the Hearings Committee wants dropped. The savings from the dropped projects are only one-third of the cost difference between Transmission Gully and the coastal option.
Statements such as “ It appears to the Subcommittee that the case for NLTF funding being made available for the completion of the TGM is at least equally as strong as the case for funding to be made available for the Mana Bypass or the Northern Expressway” are not backed up by analysis. The Northern Expressway (which is about a 4-lane highway bypassing Paraparaumu and Waikanae) has a good benefit/cost ratio, and a Mana Bypass is likely to have a reasonable one, compared to Transmission Gully, which has benefits half of the costs. The Northern expressway and Mana Bypass projects are cheaper, with higher benefits – Land Transport NZ tends to fund projects on this basis!
The Hearings Committee has considered evidence claiming Transmission Gully would have a benefit/cost ratio of 1:1, by changing the discount rate and counting the multiplier effect on the economy etc (which is to some extent double counting). The truth is that by taking the same approach to the coastal route you’d get a BCR of nearly 2:1 and there are many many other projects of higher value that get really good BCRs. BCR is first and foremost a ranking tool, and Transmission Gully ranks very poorly. If the Hearings Committee is not better placed than Land Transport NZ and Transit to change the BCR formula. Land Transport NZ spends nearly $2 billion a year of road user's funds partly based on that analysis, the Hearings Committee is hardly a comprehensive review of funding policy.- It makes some weird assumptions about funding, getting Porirua City Council to fund the Porirua bus/rail interchange (which is outside its mandate) and delaying it, it recommends an extra $25 million on public transport that doesn’t exist!
It wouldn’t toll Transmission Gully, because tolls would not produce enough income to pay for the cost of tolling! However, an untolled subsidized Transmission Gully would generate enormous demand for growth on Kapiti Coast, and encourage commuters to live on the coast and drive to central Wellington. This is what happens when politicians build uneconomic roads! It subsidises the transport of people to and from Kapiti - something I would have thought the Greens would be less than happy about.
So the committee has proposed a very poor project, that ranks as one of the worst in the country, which does not have funding, as the preferred option.
It has analysis in the report as vapid as:
The Sub-committee notes that TGM provides approximately 108 new lane kilometres (27 kilometres of four-lane highway) whilst retaining the existing Coastal Route as a local road and scenic highway. In contrast, the Coastal Route Upgrade provides approximately 44 new lane kilometres on the existing alignment (10 kilometres of new two-lane Coastal Expressway, 2 kilometres of four new lanes through Pukerua Bay, and 4 kilometres of new four-lane Mana Bypass). The Sub-committee therefore agrees with many of the submitters that TGM appears to provide much better value-for-money.
Except it costs a lot more and has a far lower benefit to cost ratio!
How about the great finding that:
“A number of young adults, children and the elderly submitted that their independence would be destroyed.”
By a road? How about your independence interfered with by taxes taken to build roads you don’t use?
Then there is the analysis behind why Transmission Gully benefits GDP:
“The contribution to GDP from transport savings is very much the same for the two scenarios ....The contribution to GDP arising from construction costs is greater for TGM.
– because YOUR taxes are being used to build it – the GDP benefit is purely a transfer to the construction sector. Since when is taxing people to pay construction companies for a poorer net benefit project a contribution to GDP?
So where to now? Well the Regional Land Transport Committee, Regional Council and Transit are in an invidious position. The Hearings Committee has recommended a bunch of proposals for which there is no funding – Transmission Gully and Grenada-Gracefield (or Tawa-Gracefield, they haven’t made their minds up).
If I were them – I’d defer it, not bother about Transmission Gully or the coastal route 4-laning, but proceed with a Paekakariki interchange and Pukerua Bay Bypass.
You see this is what happens when central planning goes wrong. Bureaucrats argue about how to spend other people's money, and nothing gets done. Politicians interfered with a rational funding allocation process, dedicating special money for Wellington and then special money for the Western Corridor - when it should have simply been left to Land Transport NZ to spend all road users' funds efficiently.
The timeline is like this:
- Up till early 90s – coastal upgrade preferred and designated option.
- Early 90s – locals want Transmission Gully (nimbyism) and bureaucrat agrees (Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment)
- early 90s- Different bureaucrats disagree, not enough revenue from road users to pay for it, other projects deliver better returns.
- mid 90s – agreed that Transmission Gully be long term option, but unaffordable for many years
- 2004 – Transmission Gully investigated properly, suddenly trebles in cost – unaffordable, look again at coastal upgrade
2005- coastal upgrade cheaper, even when mitigated and built to high standard - funding made available for it – bureaucrats agree it is best value for money
2006- -NIMBYISM comes out again, and another bunch of bureaucrats disagree and recommend to 2 other sets of bureaucrats to change their mind.
Alternative?
Roads run by profit oriented company – receives revenue directly from charging road users. Figures out best way to expand capacity, negotiates with land owners to buy land to widen road or build new road, negotiates with local road owners (company, co-operative or whatever) to interconnect with their roads – builds best option.
In the short term, I'd spend road user funds on the best projects in the region - by economic efficiency - and then I'd sell Transit New Zealand, abolish the RMA and the Public Works Act, and let Transit figure it out. You see the majority of French motorways are privately owned and operated, and France is hardly a bastion of free market liberalism.
The Hearings Committe has reflected the noise of public opinion, largely based on people living near a highway that has existed for over 70 years, who want someone else to pay for a new road to take the traffic away from their homes. They do not care who pays, as long as it is not them, so that their property values can be increased thanks to taxpayers.
Read the full report of the Hearings Committee here - Hearing SubCommittee report
Read the proposed Western Corridor plan here - Western Corridor consultation document
See the proposed Western Corridor plan costs here - Western Corridor costs diagram
Review of comparative costs of Coastal Highway and Transmission Gully
The original 2004 report which blew the cost of Transmission Gully up to $830 million from $255 million - Beca Carter report on Transmission Gully cost executive summary
See Minister's decisions and officials reports to Ministers on the Western Corridor - Officials report on Western Corridor
See how the Mana upgrade has already reduced congestion at minimal cost.
See my history of Transmission Gully blogging:
UPDATE: Stuff reports Hearing's Committee result incorrectly. Kim Ruscoe and Adam Ray haven't been reading the report that thoroughly.
"A new inland motorway through Transmission Gully can be built without charging tolls or using ratepayers' money – and for less than the original $1.1 billion estimate. That is the finding of a Transit-Greater Wellington regional council committee set up to study the best way to fix the region's chronic traffic problems. "
No, the Hearings Committee was set up to undertake public consultation and make recommendations based on that consultation. It had no mandate to "study the best way to fix the region's chronic traffic problems", it was the Western Corridor Plan consultation process, not about the Hutt or access to the airport or roads south of Ngauranga Gorge. Read the terms of reference!
Try this quote "The committee has also found that the original estimated $1.1 billion cost of building the Gully route was too high. Government road builder Transit New Zealand has admitted it over-estimated the Gully route's cost by $98 million. Further savings could be made by removing $18 million for outdated toll booths and axing some projects planned for the existing coastal highway, which would not be needed when it became a local road."
Hold on a second. There is a $465 million gap, this saves $116 million - you don't save money on Transmission Gully by not building some improvements on the existing route which would NOT be a local road. Knocking out the projects as listed by the Committee, saves only another $205 million - so there is still a gap. The existing route will still carry 40% of its current traffic, in other words, what it carried in the late 1970s, hardly a local road - it will be the main road north for Porirua, still.
Then Kim Ruscoe and Adam Ray say "The Government has offered a one-off $500 million cash injection for the region's roads. " Really? When? Look at my link above to find the papers, there is NO mention of $500 million. The figure is $405 million for the Western Corridor roading, with $255 million for other Western Corridor roading, public transport and transport demand management. The $255 million is to cover projects that should go ahead regardless of whether Transmission Gully or the coastal route is chosen.
The NZ Herald report is more accurate here, and TVNZ reports that "Funding for the gully route is a major concern but Sir Brian Ellwood from the Western Plan Hearing Subcommittee doesn't believe the public should foot the bill." Then proceeds to say the government should pay - huh? TVNZ then says "The pressure is now on the government to come up with the funding." Um no, the report needs to be considered by Transit and the Regional Land Transport Committee, the government already has offered more money for Wellington roading than has been seen in over 35 years in real terms.
So who wants to pay more taxes for Wellington to get an uneconomic road, while the rest of the country gets told to ignore its Think Big wishlists?
Helen Clark is always her own person says Germaine Greer
Why drugs matter?
However, this is what I got in return…
“You're a lefty pretending to be something else. Have to be. Nothing would make Helen Klark happier and be more likely to ensure her e-election than advocation of drug legalisation by ACT or the Nats. From a strategic point of view, its just an incredibly dumb idea. Success in politics and most things is down to timing.”
Well really? How would the Greens react? How many young urban voters would think ACT or National are perhaps no longer the reactionary party of conservatism? So politics are just about what the voters want, rather than challenging the status quo and questioning why the status quo doesn’t work?
“Seems like a fairly standard National tactic: try and scare the horses by accusing your opponent of being soft on (a) drugs, (b) crime, (c) whatever. What I find a bit odd is the belief that Act conducts itself according to the principles of classical liberalism anyway. It would be a much more interesting party if it did.”
Indeed it would be. I would support ACT if it was consistent on freedom and liberty. This is not a matter of degree, whether tax is 10% or 20%, but whether or not adults own their own bodies and can control what they ingest. No freedom is more important than that.
You can get your taxes back, run your business how you want, but get arrested for taking a puff of cannabis. ACT would probably gain support if it came out in favour of legalising cannabis - Lindsay Perigo did get several thousand votes in Epsom when he stood in 1996 - on that platform. National wont run with it, but it could be supported by an ACT party that took votes from the liberal left to the liberal right.
That, of course, is not as important as the debate - why does the state own your body?
08 March 2006
The Evil Empire
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“Let us be aware that while they preach the supremacy of the state, declare its omnipotence over individual man, predict its eventual domination of all peoples of the Earth, they are the focus of evil in the modern world.”
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He was right, of course, Reagan also put the boot into moral relativists in saying:
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“I urge you to beware the temptation of pride - the temptation of blithely declaring yourselves above it all and label both sides equally at fault, to ignore the facts of history and the aggressive impulses of an evil empire, to simply call the arms race a giant misunderstanding and thereby remove yourself from the struggle between right and wrong and good and evil.”
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Why was he right? Unfortunately too many nowadays need reminding of a system that prohibited you from leaving the country, that prohibited any publications not approved by the state, prohibited meetings not approved by the state, suppressed information that could be seen as critical of the system (e.g. the Chernobyl accident) and aided and abetted satellite regimes that were equally as brutal in suppressing dissent. The Soviet Union was an empire bent on dishonesty, bent on denial and built on the ever present violence of state totalitarianism. A cold brutal corrupt bureaucracy acting on whim, acting on command to push people about, deport, arrest, execute and bully. It lost because it could not compete materially or ethically – and it was only two years before Mikhail Gorbachev opened up the USSR, and reformed it to its ultimate disintegration.
Chris Carter produces nothing - even if you accept the nonsense of spending a decade and a half and $1 million to just get permission - he vetoed a court decision, and our own Union of Soviet Socialist Fascists are cheering him on. I sincerely hope the Whangamata Marina Society gets a judicial review of this decision. I hope the society wins and wipes their arses on the faces of the smug little power-lusting vermin who would make Brezhnev proud!
07 March 2006
Waikato wants more roads money
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The answer? Well the Nats have half of it - instead of granting sums of taxpayers money to fund regional transport on an adhoc basis, shift petrol tax from the Crown account to the National Land Transport Fund, and insist that Land Transport NZ fund projects on a benefit/cost priority basis, with no projects below a threshold of 2.0. Shifting 9c/l immediately would have no net fiscal effect if you use it to replace the special Crown funding for transport in Auckland, Wellington, Bay of Plenty and for state highways. The remaining 9.8c/l could be moved over in a four year period, to avoid fueling more inflation.
John Cleese upsets Palmerston North
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He said:
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"If you wish to kill yourself but lack the courage to, I think a visit to Palmerston North will do the trick,"
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The full story is here. Of course the Mayor is upset and the local tourism office reckons he didn’t spent enough time there. Oh come on!! I’ve spent two nights in Palmy, and well, it really is just a place where people get drunk, shag and race cars down the four main streets.
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It isn’t the suicide capital of New Zealand though, I think that there are plenty more nominations for that, such as Tokoroa, Kaikohe and Levin. Of course, this is the best publicity Palmy has had in ages and according to the Manawatu Evening Standard the local Chamber of Commerce agrees and wants to exploit it!
Ignore the census - defend the right to NOT speak
06 March 2006
Minor revamp
05 March 2006
Greens call for more bans
Unite should fuck off - go McDonalds!
Rachealle Namana - evil bitch
Nanny's ever creeping hand.... while she allows scum to party at our expense
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Oh I forgot to say, the Bill to ban smoking in cars covers ALL cars, whether you're a parent or not - after all, can't be TOO careful when we are protecting people from themselves?
04 March 2006
Gee the market is working - people consuming less sugar
Death of Harry Browne - former US Libertarian Party Presidential candidate
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Kolehardfacts
Third Party Watch
Chrislib
Atavist
Spelunking through the chaos
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So RIP Harry Browne - you will be missed.
03 March 2006
The entrepreneurial second-hander
Pope assassination attempt was Soviet plot
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Republic of Black Mountain
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This wont please the large Serb minority, or Serbia itself which loses access to the Adriatic – but given that both Serbia and Montenegro are more interested in joining the EU, it hopefully wont fuel tensions among angry nationalists. The last opinion poll showed 43% in favour of independence, with 31% against, the remainder undecided.
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Europe has had a plethora of breakaway states in the last 15 years, plus one unification (Germany). Since 1991 the following countries have established recognised independent governments:
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Latvia (now EU)
Lithuania (now EU)
Estonia (now EU)
Belarus (Stalinist outpost)
Ukraine
Moldova
Slovakia / Czech Republic (both EU)
Slovenia (now EU)
Croatia
Macedonia (formerly, “former Yugoslav republic of”)
Bosnia-Hercegovina
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And that doesn’t include Russia, assuming it succeeded the USSR. The greater Serbia that Slobodan Milosevic murdered for is slipping away, if Montenegro goes, Kosovo will be next!