Protesting hauliers bring NZ cities to standstill

Morning rush-hour traffic slowed to a crawl in most New Zealand cities today as hauliers snarled highways and streets with thousands of vehicles to protest higher road taxes.

Tens of thousands of commuters took to highways early to beat the road chaos as hauliers driving as slowly as 1.25mph swarmed into more than a dozen city centres and blocked traffic.

In the main city of Auckland, big rigs sounded air horns as crowds of people clapped and waved in support of the protest that gridlocked the city centre. Some vehicles carried placards reading “Good things come by Truck”.

The move was sparked by the government hiking road-user tax paid by haulers, adding up to €2,000 in annual operating costs to each truck. Haulage companies said the cost would be passed on to consumers through higher charges.

“The aim of the exercise today is to send a message to the Minister of Transport ... and get Joe Public on our side,” owner-operator Nigel Boyd told National Radio.

In the capital, Wellington, up to 200 trucks crawled past the nation’s Parliament, angrily sounding air horns in protest as they drove by.

Ahead of the protest, Transport Minister Anette King offered to meet the nation’s Road Transport Association that represents hauliers to consider a review of road user charges.

But Prime Minister Helen Clark said today the government was unlikely to back down.

“We think what is happening is fair. They don’t,” she told reporters. “There can be a working party to talk about how we move ahead from here.”