The more I read about and understand the truck protest the more it annoys me. I think it is great that we can protest so freely in this country. I have no problem with people exercising their right to protest. The concept of truck drivers filling a city centre with their trucks is nothing new. It has been happening over Europe as lorry drivers there protest the rising cost of fuel.
So why were the drivers protesting here? Road User charges were raised without them being notified in advance. You’d think they’d been double over night or something but no, a truckie already paying 14,000 a year will have to pay an extra $750. It turns out the truckies didn’t even mind the amount it had risen, they just wanted to be notified in advance. The night before the protest the Transport Minister agreed to a working party to work through the issues and misunderstandings. So did the truckies call the protest off?
No they didn’t. This is the point it all starts to look really petty. Road Transport Forum chief executive, and chief protest organiser Tony Friedlander is a former National cabinet minister. His politics is well known but increasingly this looks like a political move.
So what of the protest? – Bit of a fizzle really, didn’t bring the widespread chaos it promised. More of a parade to amuse small boys. It didn’t impact on me at all, I walk to work. All I could think was what a waste of fuel and this must be making a few deliveries late. Beyond that I thought the incesant honking around Parliament was pointless. It was a Friday and parliament is in recess – I doubt there were any members there to hear it. The only people you were annoying were members of the public trying to get on with their work.
For me the whole thing was a political stunt and not a very impressive one.
