PremiumOpinionOpinion byThomas CoughlanPolitical Editor·NZ Herald·9 Jul, 2026 07:08 AM8 mins to readThomas Coughlan, Political Editor at the New Zealand Herald, loves applying a political lens to people's stories and explaining the way things like transport and finance touch our lives. Transport Minister Chris Bishop speaks at the unveiling of the transport pipeline. Photo / Dean PurcellTHE FACTSThe Government announced its Major Transport Projects Pipeline today. The pipeline showed several major projects will not begin construction until next decade.National’s 2023 transport policy promised earlier start dates on several of the roads that have been delayed.It takes a lot for Chris Bishop to sound like Jacinda Ardern – the two are plainly very different politicians.
Yet when Bishop released his euphemistically titled “major transport pipeline” today, he was positively Ardern-esque in his denial that the pipeline amounted to a whole lot of
