Brian Connell National Spokesperson for Commerce

10 December 2003

Partnerships won't solve our trucking woes!

"Rick Barker's attempts to remedy our lack of truck drivers are well-meaning but poorly thought," warns Brian Connell, National's spokesman for Commerce.

"Labour is announcing yet another partnership to deal with the problem, this time between the Government and the transport sector. I hope Mr Barker never has to intervene in a medical emergency - rather than administer first aid, he'd probably try and forge closer bonds between the patient and their ailment!"

"Lowering the cost for ordinary people to get a license in the first place would be a much more sensible approach to filling our truck driver shortages," said Mr Connell.

"Compliance costs are killing the transport industry. Reducing those costs would do more for the industry than all Mr Baker's initiatives stacked end to end. New Zealand might then be able to stop hiring overseas drivers because the average bloke could afford the licenses once more."

"I know Labour's gut response to any problem is to deploy their buzzwords like 'partnership' or 'consultation', but just once it would be nice to see them ask themselves: 'Will this fix the problem?'"

"Stop dealing with the symptoms, Mr Barker and start solving the problem!"

Ends

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