The National Party must disclose its true relationship with toll road company Macquarie New Zealand, says the car buyer’s watchdog, The Dog & Lemon Guide.
Editor Clive Matthew-Wilson says:
“John Key’s advisor on toll roads works for a toll road company. This same company is likely to get the contract to operate toll roads on behalf of the government. There may be an entirely innocent explanation for this relationship. If so, why won’t John Key front up and answer questions on the subject?”
“Look who’s advising John Key on toll roads: it’s former party leader Jim McLay, who is also executive chairman of Macquarie New Zealand, a branch of a major Australian builder of toll roads. There’s no way that Jim McLay doesn’t know how much a toll road will cost motorists, and there’s no way he hasn’t shared this information with John Key.”
“I have to ask: What has John Key promised the toll road company, and what has the toll road company promised John Key? Every time the subject of road tolls comes up, John Key rushes in to kill discussion on the subject. Why?”
Matthew-Wilson says many motorists are unaware of just how expensive toll roads could be if the builder of the road needs to make a profit on the deal.
“In Sydney, some motorists are paying up to $131 a week, or almost $7000 a year for road tolls.”
Matthew-Wilson asks:
“How does National intend to cover the costs of projects like the proposed tunnel under the Waitemata Harbour, which is likely to cost $3 billion? How much will motorists have to pay to use the $1.89 billion Waterview motorway tunnel?”
“Toll roads could push up the costs of motoring by thousands of dollars a year. Motorists have a right to know what these costs will be, and the fact that National continually tries to kill discussion on toll roads leads me to believe that National is hiding something.”