Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
License needed for work use Register
Parliament

Gordon Campbell | Parliament TV | Parliament Today | Video | Questions Of the Day | Search

 

Greens welcome possible Southerner extension

23 August 2001

Greens welcome possible Southerner extension

The Green Party co-leader Rod Donald today welcomed the possibility that the Southerner train service will run longer than the end of September, and hopefully at least until Christmas.

"I am very pleased that the Government and Tranz Rail are looking to keep the Southerner running until Christmas to give all parties, including councils, time to properly assess the long term viability of the service," he said.

The Greens have been calling for the Southerner to be kept running until Christmas so that local councils and interested parties can correctly measure the future feasibility of the service.

Mr Donald said the Government should commit to keeping both the Southerner and the Bay Express running until the end of the year, during which time the ongoing viability of these services could be properly assessed.

" We need to keep our passenger rail services running because of their contribution to regional tourism and local travel. We need to get long-haul freight off our public roads and onto rail.

"Yesterday and today I have met with the mayors of Rotorua, Hamilton and Tauranga and with the Bay of Plenty and Waikato Regional Councils and have urged them along with the mayor of Napier to make a similar approach to the Government to achieve an interim extension for the threatened North Island services," he said.

ENDS

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

Are you getting our free newsletter?

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.

© Scoop Media

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
 
 
 
Parliament Headlines | Politics Headlines | Regional Headlines

Gordon Campbell: On How Climate Change Threatens Cricket‘s Future

Well that didn’t last long, did it? Mere days after taking on what he called the “awesome responsibility” of being Prime Minister, Christopher Luxon has started blaming everyone else and complaining that he's inherited “economic vandalism on an unprecedented scale” - which is how most of us would describe his own coalition agreements, 100-Day Plan, and backdated $3 billion handout to landlords... More


 
 
Public Housing Futures: Christmas Comes Early For Landlords

New CTU analysis of the National & ACT coalition agreement has shown the cost of returning interest deductibility to landlords is an extra $900M on top of National’s original proposal. This is because it is going to be implemented earlier and faster, including retrospective rebates from April 2023. More


Green Party: Petition To Save Oil & Gas Ban

“The new Government’s plan to expand oil and gas exploration is as dangerous as it is unscientific. Whatever you think about the new government, there is simply no mandate to trash the climate. We need to come together to stop them,” says James Shaw. More

PSA: MFAT Must Reverse Decision To Remove Te Reo

MFAT's decision to remove te reo from correspondence before new Ministers are sworn in risks undermining the important progress the public sector has made in honouring te Tiriti. "We are very disappointed in what is a backward decision - it simply seems to be a Ministry bowing to the racist rhetoric we heard on the election campaign trail," says Marcia Puru. More

 
 
 
 
 
 

LATEST HEADLINES

  • PARLIAMENT
  • POLITICS
  • REGIONAL
 
 

InfoPages News Channels


 
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.