May 28, 2009

The Mari­time Uni­on says the budget announced today is a step back­ward for trans­port infra­struc­ture.

Mari­time Uni­on Gen­er­al Sec­ret­ary Tre­vor Han­son says the lack of sup­port for the mari­time industry is a glar­ing omis­sion.

Mr Han­son says the aban­don­ment of the SeaChange strategy to build up New Zea­l­and ship­ping in favour of build­ing more roads is a bad mis­take.

“The Gov­ern­ment has poured money into road­ing as the world hits peak oil and cli­mate change. They are mov­ing in exactly the wrong dir­ec­tion. Ship­ping is the trans­port mode of the future that is low-impact, envir­on­ment­ally respons­ible and cost effect­ive in the long term, but has been side­lined.”