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IrelandHipkins says contracted road projects would continue under Labour
In NZ Herald's Ryan Bridge TODAY interview, the Labour leader distinguishes funded construction from unfunded proposals and rejects the Greens' wealth tax.
nzherald.co.nz
Story of Why this story? One of nzherald.co.nz's most watched videos since yesterday, with 13,003 views.
'Further further on the never never': Hipkins slams National on roading | Ryan Bridge TODAY
Things we can learn from the video
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- 0:40Hipkins names capped public transport fares and road maintenance among Labour's transport priorities.
- 1:16He says contracted, funded road projects would continue, while unfunded proposals could be deferred.
- 2:42Hipkins rejects National's proposed fuel tax increases, arguing against adding to living costs.
- 4:23On police move-on orders, he says Labour would not criminalise homelessness.
- 6:58He rules out Labour supporting the Green Party's wealth tax in a coalition.
- 7:45Hipkins predicts Labour will outperform its pre-election polling.
Scaling back road-building would not mean stopping projects already contracted and funded, Chris Hipkins tells Ryan Bridge in an interview published by NZ Herald.
Asked what Labour's transport plans would mean in practice, Hipkins says unfunded proposals could be deferred. His stated priorities include road maintenance and capped public transport fares, rather than committing to every proposed new road.
For projects already contracted and funded, his answer is direct: "We're not going to stop it from happening."
Hipkins also rejects what he describes as National's proposed fuel tax increases, arguing that they would add to living costs. The interview puts transport spending alongside a broader election question: which commitments would Labour maintain if it needed coalition partners to govern?
On that, Hipkins draws an explicit boundary around the Green Party's wealth tax proposal. "The Labour Party is not going to support the introduction of a wealth tax," he says, ruling out backing it under a coalition arrangement.
Elsewhere, Bridge presses him on police move-on orders and election polling. Hipkins says Labour would not criminalise homelessness, interprets high voter turnout as a desire for political change, and argues that the election result matters more than pre-election polls.
The interview has drawn about 13,000 views since yesterday. It ends with Hipkins maintaining that Labour will perform more strongly on election day than its polling suggests.
Leader of New Zealand’s Labour Party and leader of the Opposition. He served as prime minister from January to November 2023.
More on Wikipedia ›One of New Zealand’s two major political parties, Labour is centre-left and the traditional rival of the National Party.
More on Wikipedia ›New Zealand’s centre-right party and the senior party in the current government. It is Labour’s traditional rival.
More on Wikipedia ›An environmentalist and social democratic party in New Zealand. It is the second-largest opposition party in Parliament.
More on Wikipedia ›Published on Trari
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- Channel
- nzherald.co.nz
- Subscribers
- 222,000
- Channel views, last 7 days
- 1,043,764
- Channel views, pace per day
- 273,295 (on a normal day: 153,157)
- Video published
- November 2, 2026
- Video views so far
- 13,003 (less than a day online)
- Video views, pace per day
- 26,576
The numbers
The Ryan Bridge TODAY interview was NZ Herald's most-watched new upload since yesterday.
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Who interviews Chris Hipkins in this video?
Hipkins appears with Ryan Bridge on Ryan Bridge TODAY.