Candidate Spotlight! Meet Cindie Uddstrom 📍West Coast - Tasman What are the biggest issues in New Zealand? To me, it’s the long running underfunding and under-resourcing of our core services. An adequate funded and functioning healthcare system should not be an election issue.

#TrainNews: The Crusaders Express event train to Te Kaha has departed Rolleston for its inaugural run. Video - HE604 on the Scoot Foundation Discord.

I’m excited about the ever evolving urban form of Kāpiti and the opportunities it’ll bring for our district and its communities in the future. 💚

The government’s latest Action Plan for Nature contains a lot of great ideas but it's hard to take it seriously when all we've seen lately is cuts to conservation funding and a fast-track process that erodes environmental protection. www.opportunity.org.nz

A 1995 image of what the Grey District Council thought Greymouth could look like in 2025, vs what it actually looks like in 2025 🌇 I'm sad we didn't get apartment buildings, skyscrapers, a space needle and modern locomotives 😭

#TransportNews: KiwiRail is offering freight customers an Auckland-to-Christchurch coastal shipping service to ease pressure on constrained Cook Strait capacity. Via BusinessDesk: businessdesk.co.nz/article/infr...

Universal basic income is not science fiction. It should exist for everyone. There's enough to make it happen.

#RailNews: Dunedin Railways general manager Rebekah Jenkins says business is back with a vengeance this year. Paywalled Via Otago Daily Times: www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin...

The last shunter locomotive working on the West Coast (I think?) TS 718, built by A & G Price of Thames. Now owned by Westland Milk Products for use in their railyard 🚂

#RailNews: Nelson is a crown jewel of the South Island, and one of our most largest cities. Why then is it completely devoid of rail? By @harrisonmcevoy.bsky.social via Foamerman: foamerman.substack.com/p/missing-li...

West Coast Waitaha hydro plan wins draft fast-track approval https://www.newsbeep.com/nz/329106/ Together with its partner Poutini Ngāi Tahu, Westpower said it welcomed the panel’s draft decision to approve the…

So after emailing Kiwirail they have added West Coasters to the 25% discount promotion for Tranzalpine tickets in June! Gonna have to plan a train trip in June... 🚂

Kiwis are losing trust in government because of this 👇 Instead of doing the hard work of consensus building, listening to community and compromising across the aisle - our leaders are increasingly slapping 'urgent' on their laws and ramming them through Parliament We should all expect better.

The Government’s current health and safety reforms evoke bitter thoughts from some about failures by successive governments to put into effect the Working Safer Blueprint promises, made in the wake of the Pike River mine disaster in 2010.

One of Canada's top doctors prescribes a basic income guarantee

Pretty 'active' at the Grey River mouth.

So after emailing Kiwirail they have added West Coasters to the 25% discount promotion for Tranzalpine tickets in June! Gonna have to plan a train trip in June... 🚂

Strong Wind Watch issued for Wellington and the Marlborough Sounds. Strong Wind Watch issued for Buller, Grey and Westland. Heavy Rain Warning - Orange issued for Kaikoura Coast and Ranges and north Canterbury ranges east of Lake Sumner.

Heavy Rain Warning - Orange issued for The Tararua Range, Wairarapa and Tararua District south of Woodville, also Wellington south of Tawa and also the Hutt Valley.. Heavy Rain Watch issued for Remaining parts of Horowhenua Kapiti Coast and Wellington not covered by the Warning.

Jeez. Put on a sweater because yesterday it was quite cold, but it’s quite hot today. Anyway, I have voted! 🗳️ Make sure you don’t leave it till the last minute folks, or even forget to do it all together 😁

Oh hey, the Tranzalpine is 25% off for locals in June, maybe I could go . . . Oh it's for Canterbury locals only 😑 Y'know Kiwirail, there's a whole other Region on the western end of the Midland line that might want to take the train . . .

The Save Science Coalition is right. Funding and supporting research today, is how we build tomorrow. Opportunity is committed to lifting R&D spend, and we'll have more science-support policy in our Productivity Unleashed package launching soon.

#CycloneVaianu Remember to be good neighbours and share your bounty, Aotearoa. Be generous and be kind. Check on neighbours and help them with two or more person lifts, etc. Stay safe. 🫶

My husband is a teacher and works a lot but does not get paid enough for what he does. If we had UBI - we'd be less stressed for sure.

Inevitability works both ways. Say things like When we all have healthcare... When we have UBI*... When we tax the wealthy appropriately... When corps no longer own houses... When schools are properly funded... When laws are enforced... When powerful men go to jail... *universal basic income

Haere ra to Māwhera Greymouth, thank you for being my home for the past year! I've moved down the road to beautiful Hokitika! 🌅

"Just buy an EV" is the most privileged response to high gas prices, ever. If you think that is a solution, you've obviously never lived in an apartment building and depended on your 10 year old Corolla to get to your minimum wage job, just to survive.

“Our Councils would today be facing an extra bill of about $50,000 a month or $600,000 a year if we had decided to stick with diesel buses”. The service has no risk from fuel shortages, is reducing the region’s emissions, PM10 + nitrous oxide + is also quieter. www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK26...

#News: MOTAT is set to hold the first-ever NZ Tram Driver Championship, with NZ Transit Buzz as lead sponsor. Events include passing a rugby ball out the tram window at 15kph, bribing the government to build light rail and performing an emergency stop to avoid a possum.

Achieved something today - with a lot of input by several councillors who did much of the heavy lifting in making sure this was unanimous. We can work across the urban-rural divide if we listen to each other www.thepress.co.nz/nz-news/3609...

I made this same point with regards to New Zealanders on page 276 of Can't Get There from Here. See the alt text for the final sentence that has been cut off because of a column break

If you think your vote doesn't count.

During the last Oil Shock in 1979 NZ Railways was touted as the 'Great NZ Energy Saver' being far more fuel efficient in carrying freight compared to road freight. While still true, we've lost the sidings & the small to medium goods freight service we had in 1979. Time to look to the past for ideas?

Honest question: If everyone got Universal Basic Income, no strings attached, what would YOU do with it? Re-post with your quote or drop your take below.

Work is insane, but important to take a lunch break, especially when it’s such a beautiful day. 😎🥪 #dunnerstunner

#RailNews: A commuter rail service between Selwyn townships and Christchurch is being investigated by a community board, with planning under way for a one-off trial later this year. Via Otago Daily Times: www.odt.co.nz/star-news/st...

Whenever I suggest even modest public transport improvements, I get people screaming about cost and that I simply must face “facts” that railways lose money and deserve no investment You could have electrified commuter rail in every major centre and extensive regional rail for half this ridic road

I hope the trial shows a demand for rail. The buses to the commuter towns are great but get stuck in traffic just like cars do, a train could bypass the traffic and get someone to the city faster than driving www.odt.co.nz/star-news/st...

#Eclipse . . . Good night f'rit! #TheWestCoast

#RailNews: KiwiRail has begun trialling entombing to extend the lifespan of some rail bridges. Crews encase the existing timber pile in steel cylinders to 1.8m below ground and they are then sealed and filled with high-flow grout. This extends the lifespan by 30 years.

This kind of rushed lawmaking, done without debate, consultation or fact-finding, is why people are losing trust in our democracy. If the legislation is broken, make the case to fix it. If there is a trade-off to be made, tell Kiwis why.

#TrainNews: There won’t be a central Christchurch train platform built in time for the city’s new stadium opening, but the company behind an Events Express train has a solution. Passengers will disembark onto Pilgrim Place, using a ramp similar to those used on planes.

#RailNews: Companies sending goods up and down the country's railways could begin to favour road transport as KiwiRail manages declining assets, an expert says. Via RNZ: www.rnz.co.nz/news/top/587...

#BREAKING #TrainNews: Waikato Regional Council has voted to continue the Waikato-Auckland Te Huia passenger train trial. The decision was made in an 11-2 vote, with one abstention.

#TrainNews: In reply to an OIA request, KiwiRail has confirmed that investigations are being undertaken to determine if DL locomotives can operate Te Huia at 100km/h instead of the present 80km/h limit.

If this is what the Coalition thinks being “laser focused” on growing the economy is, I’d hate to think what things look like when they get distracted 🙃

Opportunity Party - State of the Nation address includes a roll out of our Energy and Healthy Oceans Policies. #nzpol #KiwisDeserveBetter You can read the policy details here: www.opportunity.org.nz/policy State of the Nation address starts at 13m57s www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKYZ...

#BusNews: An event to officially launch Christchurch's new electric double-decker bus was held on Monday, as the bus has completed trials and will be on route 7 in the coming weeks.

"Out of every 1,000 births, we have 300 deaths, and of the remaining 700, about 30 per cent migrate. If we can provide an incentive like UBI, it's an investment in our people." Mr Paul said the UBI program would offer citizens an incentive to stay. zurl.co/fYClF