Yesterday I joined chief executives from across the motor vehicle industry at the Beehive for our regular meeting with the Minister of Transport, where it is safe to say that we had plenty to discuss. Simeon Brown is delivering a full policy and change agenda, focussed on lifting productivity, efficiency and safety across the transport portfolio. These include reforming how we pay for roads, removing red tape in outdated rules that tangle transport, and supporting low emission heavy vehicles.

This change agenda is far reaching in its consequences, there are several once in a generation changes, that are big cogs in the transport system engine, and how they interact is complex. Don’t get me wrong, they are needed, and they are overdue – but getting them right is critical for the success of our sector.

Never has it been more important for transport operators and road freight to be at the table shaping the future of our industry. And that doesn’t mean just the minister’s table. That means meeting with departmental chief executives, officials and regulators across all the main portfolios – MBIE, NZTA, MPI, MSD, Immigration, MOT and many more.

That’s why NRC has taken the next important step in our advocacy strategy and appointed Erwin Ricketts as principal advisor, based in Wellington. Erwin brings extensive experience in both the public and private sector, having worked in the ministries of transport, treasury, primary industries, among others, as well as for internationally renowned strategic advisory firm Castalia.

Erwin will be working on pulling together our overall strategy, ensuring that NRC is engaging on the right initiatives at the right time, and delivering the best outcomes across infrastructure, workforce and decarbonisation for our industry to thrive.

– Justin Tighe-Umbers, chief executive, National Road Carriers