National's pledge to establish a half billion-dollar "pothole repair fund" if the party is elected in October has won the praise of an industry spokesperson, but Labour argue the blame lies with the opposition in the first place.
The party's transport spokesperson Simeon Brown said the $500 million for the fund would come from re-prioritising spending from existing initiatives, including "blanket speed limit reductions and excessive speed bump installations".
Transport Minister David Parker said National had previously underinvested in roading infrastructure, leading to a "crisis" that the Government inherited.
Parker claimed National's proposal to defund other transport initiatives, like safety initiatives, would result in fewer front line police checks and other safety infrastructure.
James Smith from the National Road Carriers Association said he was "very happy" with National's plan.
"It's a clear signal that getting the network back to where it's supposed to be is a top priority," he told Breakfast this morning.
"We will be holding them to this promise, you can count on that."
Smith said that improving the road network was crucial and should come ahead of "nice-to-haves".
And repairing a pothole within 24 hours is "pretty critical", he said.
"Some of these potholes are fairly substantial in size, and they have a fairly dramatic effect when you're going over the top of them, regardless of whether you're in a car or a truck.
"The more dangerous of them, they can flip the vehicle into the opposing lane if the driver tries to avoid them," he said.
"And that's the last place you want a vehicle."
Asked what the current Government could do, compared to National's plan, Smith's view was clear: "Match it or better it."
'People are right to be pissed off' - Transport Minister
People are "really not right" to blame the current Labour government, David Parker said. (Source: Breakfast)
Parker told Breakfast that National's plan is an "unfunded promise".
"Every time I hit a pothole, I curse," he said. "There's still a lot out there. You have to ask yourself, why?
"And the answer is that there has not been enough road resurfacing done in New Zealand.
"When you don't resurface the road, the trucks and things crack it up, the water gets into the road and that's when your potholes form."
He argued the last government didn't do enough work in this area.
"We are actually catching up on all of that deferred maintenance, and we're doing really well," Parker said. "But it takes a while.
"So people are right to be pissed off about the potholes on the road, but they're really not right to blame us, to be honest."
Act, Greens weigh in
Also speaking to Breakfast this morning, deputy leader of the ACT Party Brooke van Velden said fixing the potholes is the "right thing to do".
"There's a lot of frustration from people saying why are spending so much money on slowing people down, is that really going to make our streets safer or is it going to be pretty unsafe, the fact we've got to dodge all these potholes up and down New Zealand."
She said "basic things" like Aotearoa's roads need to be fixed and maintained so people can travel and have a "productive economy".
Greens MP Chlöe Swarbrick also agreed it's important to get potholes fixed but said there are bigger issues facing Kiwis.
"There's also some other really important things to look at such as, for example, moving freight off of our roads and onto our rail network which obviously also involves a real need for infrastructural investment."
She claimed there is an approximate $100 billion under investment in infrastructure.
"We are consistently seeing this focus on band-aiding and I guess filling all the potholes is one thing to focus on and it's an important thing because it is causing that frustration on a day-to-day basis, but I'd really hope that we also got the opportunity to talk about some vision, and some evidence based policy, and all the bigger issues facing Aotearoa New Zealand."
SHARE ME