RUGBY WORLD C****

 

Well, the rugby world whatever has been and gone and what’s it left us?

 

Murray McCully, minister for sport, decided to spend some of the allocated funds on ‘improving the safety of the passenger transport fleet’.

 

So he gave it to NZTA (New Zealand Transport Authority) and they spent it on finding every archaic rule they could that hadn’t previously been enforced and enforcing them.  And of course, the rules remain…..  for example –

 

It’s now definitely treated as illegal to consume alcohol in any form of passenger service vehicle unless it has a liquor licence (some limos may, for example).  So if you’re going to a party in a taxi, private charter van, shuttle, or most buses, and you have one glass of champagne, the owner and/or driver can be fined a fortune.

 

For reasons which even NZTA officers can’t really explain, many people carriers, which had previously been safely in use as taxis or shuttles, and which are approved world wide for normal passenger use, cannot be used in New Zealand for commercial passenger service without having one seat removed, or fixed in a position for least passenger comfort. (We at Allbays are currently challenging this one.  It’s also upsetting the local representatives of a very large Japanese car manufacturer, renowned for their reliability…)

 

And is passenger transport any safer?   We doubt it.

 

What about the long term economic effect of the RWC?

 

Some businesses made a few extra $.  Many report actual losses.

No real infrastructure benefit beyond some minor stadium improvements.

World tourists exposed to NZ at a time when it’s looking overpriced (strong $), tacky and greedy.

And it could be argued, the All Blacks winning got John Key re-elected as PM!