Election 2023: Transport, Promises, and the Reality Beneath the Slogans

Transport was never meant to be the headline act of the 2023 general election. Yet by the time votes were cast, it had become one of the clearest dividing lines between competing visions of how New Zealand should function over the coming decade.

Congestion, public transport reliability, road safety, climate pressures, and the escalating cost of major infrastructure projects had combined to push transport out of the margins and into the centre of the campaign. What emerged was not simply a debate over individual projects, but a deeper argument about what kind of transport system New Zealand could realistically build — and pay for — in the 2020s.

Looking back from 2026, the 2023 election now reads less like a clash of personalities and more like a referendum on competing transport philosophies.

A system under strain

By 2023, few voters needed persuading that the transport system was under pressure. Auckland’s congestion was among the worst in the OECD by some measures. Regional state highways were increasingly vulnerable to weather events. Public transport patronage was recovering unevenly from the pandemic. Freight operators were navigating cost inflation and reliability issues.

Against that backdrop, transport policy became a proxy for broader concerns: productivity, cost of living, climate commitments, and the state’s capacity to deliver large projects on time and on budget.

All major parties agreed on one thing: the status quo was not sufficient. Where they diverged was how to fix it.

Two competing narratives

Stripped of campaign rhetoric, the 2023 transport debate largely settled into two competing narratives.

The first emphasised roads, delivery speed, and economic efficiency. Proponents argued that New Zealand had underinvested in core roading infrastructure, that congestion was costing billions in lost productivity, and that the system needed a reset toward projects that could be delivered faster and more predictably.

The second focused on mode shift, public transport, and long-term resilience. Supporters of this approach argued that cities could not be built around ever-increasing car use, that emissions targets demanded structural change, and that investment in buses, trains, and active modes was essential to affordability and access.

These narratives shaped how each party framed its transport offer.

National Party: Roads, delivery, and economic framing

The National Party’s 2023 transport policy was anchored in a familiar proposition: infrastructure as an economic enabler.

National argued that congestion was acting as a brake on growth, particularly in Auckland, and that the transport system had become overly complex and slow to deliver. Its answer was a renewed emphasis on large-scale roading projects, including a re-established Roads of National Significance programme, alongside selected public transport investments positioned primarily as congestion relief.

Funding mechanisms and project prioritisation were framed around speed, certainty, and return on investment. The underlying message was that New Zealand needed to get back to building — and that the state had become too cautious, too fragmented, and too slow.

In hindsight, this framing foreshadowed the early transport direction of the post-election government, where roading quickly re-emerged as a central pillar of infrastructure policy.

Labour Party: A broad pipeline, stretched by reality

Labour entered the 2023 campaign with the weight — and vulnerability — of incumbency. Its transport story was shaped less by new announcements and more by a large, already-signalled pipeline of planned investment.

The party’s approach reflected a belief in multi-modal networks: roads where needed, public transport in cities, and long-term planning to support housing and climate goals. However, the scale of planned spend raised questions about delivery capacity, fiscal sustainability, and sequencing.

While Labour emphasised continuity and ambition, critics argued that the programme had become too large, too slow, and too disconnected from on-the-ground delivery realities. In the campaign environment, those critiques proved difficult to counter with future-facing promises alone.

Green Party: Mode shift as principle

The Green Party presented the most ideologically consistent transport platform of the 2023 election.

Transport was framed as a lever for climate action, equity, and public health. The Greens argued that reducing car dependence was not optional but necessary, and that investment needed to be redirected toward public transport, rail, walking, and cycling at scale.

Their policy vision prioritised affordability and access, particularly for households facing rising transport costs. While supporters praised the clarity of the approach, critics questioned political feasibility and the pace at which such a transition could realistically occur.

Regardless, the Greens succeeded in anchoring mode shift firmly within the election conversation — ensuring it could not be ignored by other parties.

ACT Party: Funding reform over project lists

ACT’s transport pitch stood apart not because of the projects it favoured, but because of its focus on how transport is funded.

ACT argued that New Zealand’s reliance on traditional tax-funded models had become a bottleneck, and proposed a greater use of tolling, user-pays mechanisms, and private financing to accelerate delivery. Roads, in this view, were not the problem — the funding model was.

The party was sceptical of linking transport investment too closely to climate objectives, arguing instead for efficiency, choice, and economic outcomes. While controversial, ACT’s emphasis on funding reform introduced a different axis to the debate: not roads versus rail, but public funding versus alternative financing.

New Zealand First: Back to basics, then into government

New Zealand First’s 2023 campaign placed less emphasis on detailed transport policy and more on a broader “back to basics” narrative focused on cost of living and core services.

Its transport relevance became clearer after the election, through coalition negotiations and early government signalling. Support for major roading projects and scepticism toward what it characterised as ideological transport planning aligned it more closely with the roads-first narrative that would shape initial post-election policy direction.

Te Pāti Māori: Transport through a wellbeing lens

Te Pāti Māori approached transport not as a standalone portfolio but as part of a wider kaupapa-driven framework centred on wellbeing, equity, and environmental stewardship.

Rather than publishing a single, consolidated transport policy, transport commitments were woven through housing, climate, and community development priorities. As a result, its transport positions were less visible in headline election comparisons, but nonetheless contributed to the broader discussion around access, affordability, and regional equity.

The Opportunity Party

The Opportunity Party (TOP) entered the 2023 election with a platform centred on affordability, evidence-based policy, and long-term structural reform. While TOP did not publish a standalone transport manifesto comparable to the major parties, transport-related measures featured across its cost-of-living, youth, and climate policies.

A core transport-adjacent proposal was increased support for public transport affordability, including free or heavily subsidised public transport for young people through its Teal Card policy. This was framed less as a transport infrastructure programme and more as an access and equity measure — positioning mobility as a basic service rather than a discretionary cost.

More broadly, TOP’s 2023 platform aligned with progressive views on decarbonising transport and reducing car dependency, particularly in urban areas. While the party’s limited electoral support meant these ideas did not shape post-election policy direction, they formed part of the wider 2023 debate around affordability, emissions, and how transport systems support social participation.

https://www.opportunity.org.nz/platform

What the 2023 transport election revealed

With the benefit of hindsight, Election 2023 was less about specific projects and more about confidence in delivery.

Voters were being asked not just what should be built, but whether the political system was capable of building it at all. Cost overruns, delays, and shifting priorities had eroded trust across the spectrum.

The election outcome suggested a desire for reset: fewer promises, clearer priorities, and a renewed focus on projects that could demonstrably move people and goods.

Why this matters for Transport 2026

As the 2026 election approaches, the lessons of 2023 loom large.

Transport promises will again be plentiful. But the scrutiny will be sharper. Questions of funding, sequencing, and operational reality are likely to carry more weight than vision statements alone.

Understanding what was debated in 2023 — and why — provides essential context for evaluating what comes next.

That is the purpose of this retrospective: not to relitigate the past, but to inform the future.