Photo credit: Will Vanlue for Disaster Relief Trials
Last week Aotearoa New Zealand once again found itself battered by storms: Northland, Bay of Plenty and the East Coast declared states of emergency as hillsides fell onto roads, people were rescued from rooftops, already saturated ground flooded again in Northland, and slips in Welcome Bay and Mount Maunganui claimed the lives of eight people. We hold this loss close to our hearts, and our deepest sympathy goes out to the whānau and communities who are grieving. We stand with you in this difficult time.
Storms and heavy, dangerous rainfall are becoming more frequent in New Zealand; the result of oceans warmed by climate change. The government’s response to climate change has been to ignore it, and Deputy Prime Minister Nicola Willis has accused Labour leader Chris Hipkins of ‘politicising’ the tragedies of the last week.
Yet our environment and our ability to change it are what politics is about. The government knows this: it has made a significant effort to impose its own view on New Zealanders’ transport options, reducing communities’ choices by withdrawing funding for active and public transport while prioritising highways. This is a political choice. How we move around our communities is always and everywhere politics.
As New Zealand is discovering, roads are not resilient in storms. They flood and are subject to erosion from above and below. Cars are not resilient in storms either. Once water gets in the engine, they’re gone. To add insult to injury, the cars and roads that are so vulnerable to the impact of storms, are a major contributor to the very storms they fall victim to.
Transport contributes about 20% to New Zealand’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the majority from road transport. In 2025 the government rejected all the Climate Change Commission’s emissions target recommendations but remained committed to spending tens of billions of dollars on its Roads of National Significance programme.
But there’s a way of getting around which doesn’t contribute to GHG emissions, has a fraction of the ecological footprint of a Ford Ranger, and doesn’t require billions in roading. It’s the humble bicycle. Bicycles offer communities genuine choice in how they move around, and what’s more, they are resilient to extreme weather.
Last week’s storm is a reminder that there is no escaping climate change, nor is anyone safe from the fury of storms, floods, fires and droughts that will be our children’s future if we don’t change course. Bike Auckland is calling on the government to reprioritise its transport spending to reflect the reality of climate change and its impact on our communities. In 2026 safe, connected, quality active transport amenities are not a nice-to-have, they are vital community infrastructure. Reprioritisation is a matter of urgency and we call on the government and the Opposition parties to commit more to cycleways and less to outrageously priced roads for our communities and the health of our planet.
Donna Wynd
Co-Chair, Bike Auckland
