2026 Election Platform

Transporting New Zealand’s 2026 Election Platform calls for all political parties to back practical transport policies that improve supply chain resilience and support economic growth.

Trucks move approximately 93 percent of New Zealand’s freight by tonnage, making a reliable and efficient freight network essential to Aotearoa New Zealand’s economy and to improving the cost of living.

No matter who forms the next Government, we believe these five calls are key to creating a better transport network for all:

1. Keep freight flowing

This year’s fuel price shocks showed how exposed New Zealand is when supply is disrupted. We want bigger onshore diesel reserves, formal contingency arrangements with refining partners, and resilient Cook Strait connections so trucks keep moving and the country stays supplied, whatever happens overseas.

2. Build a pipeline for growth

New Zealand spends big on infrastructure but gets some of the worst returns in the OECD, and our stop-start approach has left a deficit and killed certainty for business. We want road maintenance made the top funding priority and a stable, long-term pipeline of nationally significant projects that survives changes of government.

3. Improve road safety through smarter enforcement

Road deaths are trending down, but there’s more to do. We want camera-based technology expanded to catch mobile phone and seatbelt offences, roadside drug-driving tests lifted from 50,000 to 150,000 a year, and a crackdown on cowboy operators who undercut firms that play by the rules.

4. Support the future trucking workforce

One in ten truck drivers is over 65, and more than a million New Zealanders don’t hold a full licence – a problem when 70% of jobs need one. We want funding for licence training in schools and communities, shorter heavy-vehicle licensing pathways, and immigration settings that let operators fill critical gaps fast.

5. Back a cleaner, more productive fleet.

Lifting productivity and cutting emissions means helping operators renew their fleets. We want full capital expensing for high-productivity and low-emission trucks, stronger bridges and culverts so bigger, cleaner vehicles can use more of the network, and a Commerce Commission with the teeth to tackle uncompetitive freight supply chain.

Read the full Election Platform here.

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