30 Jun 2025
1 year ago
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A new 110km/h speed limit on the Pūhoi to Warkworth motorway will come into effect first thing tomorrow morning, Transport Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Transport is a critical enabler for economic growth and productivity, and with over 20,000 vehicles travelling this motorway every day, the new higher speed will help ensure people and freight can get to where they need to go, quickly and safely,” Mr Bishop says. “Late last year, the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) publicly consulted on increasing the speed limit from north of the Pūhoi interchange viaduct to south of the Warkworth roundabout to 110km/h.
27 Jun 2025
1 year ago
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The Government’s work to deliver better public services for New Zealanders is paying dividends for people working to gain their driver licence, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “National average wait times are now just four days for a full licence test and seven days for a restricted licence test, down from a peak of up to 90 days in some regions,” Mr Bishop says. “At one point in 2024, we saw wait times get as high as 90 days in some regions, with a backlog of over 80,000 people applying to sit their licence tests at one point.
27 Jun 2025
1 year ago
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Health Minister Simeon Brown and Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey have today marked the beginning of construction on the new Sir Mark Dunajtschik Mental Health Centre in Lower Hutt. Joined by Hutt South MP Chris Bishop, the Ministers took part in a sod-turning ceremony to celebrate the start of a project that will transform mental health services across the Wellington region. “Today, I’m proud to announce the Government is investing $38 million in the construction of this world-class facility – alongside an extraordinary $50 million donation from Sir Mark Dunajtschik, who also generously donated $50 million towards the new Wellington Children’s Hospital in 2017,” Mr Brown says.
25 Jun 2025
1 year ago
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The Government will require Auckland to allow even greater housing and development around City Rail Link stations, ensuring that Auckland takes economic advantage of this transformational investment in the city, Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Auckland Minister Simeon Brown say. “CRL is a massive multi-billion dollar investment for the Government and Auckland Council. It’s important that we get ‘bang for buck’ by maximising the opportunities for economic growth and increased productivity that the CRL will bring when it opens next year,” Minister Bishop says.
25 Jun 2025
1 year ago
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Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop encourages New Zealanders to have their say on the draft National Infrastructure Plan released today by the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission. “Improving the way we plan, fund, maintain and build our infrastructure is critical to boosting economic growth and increasing productivity and living standards, and so the Government welcomes today’s draft report by the independent Infrastructure Commission. “Contrary to many perceptions, New Zealand spends a lot on infrastructure.
22 Jun 2025
1 year ago
3062 views
The positive impact of the Government’s Infrastructure Investment Summit earlier this year is beginning to show, following the shortlisting of three consortia for the Warkworth to Te Hana section of the Northland Expressway, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Investment Summit, which took place in Auckland in March 2025, attracted international and local companies which collectively manage over $6 trillion in capital,” Mr Bishop says. “Ministers’ presentations at the Summit left the investors in no doubt that New Zealand is serious about attracting investment into the big infrastructure projects our country needs.
19 Jun 2025
1 year ago
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The Government is progressing a bold work programme to increase productivity and efficiency through comprehensively reforming New Zealand’s land transport rules, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Land transport rules set out how different sectors of the transport industry must operate. They impact all road users - from the suburban mum or dad who has to get a Warrant of Fitness every year no matter how new or well-maintained their car, to the truckies who’ve been loaded up with compliance costs due to rules long since made redundant through advances in technology,” says Mr Bishop.
18 Jun 2025
1 year ago
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New Zealanders have an opportunity to help shape the new planning system replacing the Resource Management Act (RMA) through public consultation on removing unnecessary barriers to housing growth, says Housing and RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “New Zealand’s house prices are among the most expensive in the developed world – a direct result of our current planning system making it too hard for our cities to grow up and out. “Fixing our housing crisis involves fixing the fundamentals of our housing market - freeing up land for development and removing unnecessary planning barriers, improving infrastructure funding and financing to support urban growth, and providing incentives for communities and councils to support growth.
17 Jun 2025
1 year ago
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The derelict and unsafe Gordon Wilson Flats in Wellington will lose its protected heritage status and become eligible for demolition through an amendment to the Resource Management Act (RMA) in the coming weeks, RMA Reform and Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Gordon Wilson Flats were used as social housing until 2012, when an engineer’s report showed the building was so unsafe that large slabs of the concrete exterior could come off in an earthquake or even a strong wind. The building has sat vacant since then, becoming more dangerous and more of an eyesore every year,” Mr Bishop says.
16 Jun 2025
1 year ago
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In the first twelve months of the Government’s flagship Priority One policy, nearly 1000 families with more than 2,124 children have been moved from dank emergency housing motel rooms to secure, stable homes. “The largescale use of emergency housing was one of the biggest public policy failures in New Zealand history. Under the previous government’s watch, thousands of children were consigned to grow up in cramped, dingy motel rooms at a cost to taxpayers of $1 million every day at its peak,” Housing Minister Chris Bishop says.