NZ Government announces millions in spending on Northland roads, nothing for the railways

A photo for Steven Joyce, who is no doubt behind this announcement.

With an important by-election being held in a couple of weeks for a seat in Parliament in which the Government's one-seat majority is at stake, the Government has announced it will replace ten single-lane bridges on Northland's Twin Coast Highway over the next six years, at a cost of up to $69 million.

The main opposition candidate, NZ First leader Winston Peters, instead wants restoration of the North Auckland railways.

Prime Minister John Key says, "We've been very committed to the roading projects in Northland. We've spent three quarters of a billion dollars there in the last seven years, that's 40 percent more than the Labour Party spent in the time that they were in office."

Well, who is surprised?