In a letter to local authorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown said he told Waka Kotahi to halt work on cycling and walking initiatives.

The party of choice is going to force people to have to drive to get around by ensuring there are no viable alternatives. Worst government in a generation by far.

  • TagMeInSkipIGotThis@lemmy.nz
    6·
    11 months ago

    I think that Simeon Brown’s religious fundamentalism doesn’t get anywhere near enough oxygen. His past political action suggests he is anti-gay rights, anti-trans rights, anti bodily autonomy for women.

    I think of him a lot more like the cynical culture wars politicians in the US. He’s clearly got a brain given he was able to complete a law & commerce degree, but I think he attacks stuff like cycling & walking purely for political theatre.

    If my opinion is right, that kind of cynicism is dangerous, it means anything is fair game purely for his personal benefit in terms of gaining & entrenching political power. Burn the planet, so long as he’s a Minister.

    And given his religious views, I can’t help but wonder exactly what he wants that political power for.

    • Xcf456@lemmy.nzOP
      2·
      11 months ago

      Billions in tax breaks and handouts to landlords and the well off, plum contracts for road builders, gutting rail for the benefit of trucking companies, refusing to even think about regulating or breaking up our monopolies, duopoliesand oligopolies present in nearly every single industry in NZ.

      So this kinda fits with the MO - the goal isn’t to provide the most efficient services to the public, its actually the opposite - insert yourselves between products, services because that inefficiency creates an opportunity to extract additional value from the public they could otherwise keep for themselves.

      So I’d say yeah, it’s mostly just greed and selfishness driving it. Culture wars stuff is mostly a distraction to hide the grift, however I do think there’s something more sinister to it, that if people are free to express different gender, sexual and racial identities, what’s to stop them getting uppity ideas about class and societal hierarchies being equally challengable?