Richard Hills
@richardhills.bsky.social
2.5K followers 480 following 220 posts
Dad to Theo. Auckland Councillor - North Shore. Chair of the Planning, Environment and Parks Committee. Working to make our community & city better.
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Reposted by Richard Hills
Reposted by Richard Hills
openpolicy.bsky.social
Wellington idiots are all ‘We should cancel the Golden Mike’ regeneration, but now I’m in Bilbao, and the city is thriving with narrowed roads and pavements twice as wide as the road on each side.
A photo of the Calle Gran Via Don Diego López de Haro in Bilbao. A two lane road is dwarfed by pavements twice as wide on each side. Lime trees provide shade as people walk along, visiting thriving shops.
richardhills.bsky.social
If you’re using NZ post please drop it to a post box by tomorrow. Otherwise you’ll need to drop it to the library, a Woolworths, or a major transport hub before midday on Saturday 11 October.

Encourage all your friends and whānau to vote. Maybe drop their papers back for them if you can.
How to cast a special vote | Vote Auckland
If you are travelling during the voting period or do not receive a voting pack when they are sent out, you may be eligible to cast a special vote.
voteauckland.co.nz
richardhills.bsky.social
Cleared out my office after a massive 3 years. The busiest 3 of my life, some tough times & lots of successes too. A lot of it spent working in this building.

I hope everyone’s getting their votes back so I can get back to the office on Monday to continue the hard work for our community & our city.
Reposted by Richard Hills
sassypolitico.bsky.social
It is completely unconscionable to require job losses for the economy to function (supposedly) and then to blame them for their own unemployment that they DID NOT CHOOSE.
richardhills.bsky.social
Such as the busway, Onewa Rd and the Devonport Ferry, but we need to do more and we need the government to step up as well.

* based on the average occupancy of vehicles in Auckland. The average dedicated bus lane actually moves around 5-7 times the number of people than a car lane.
richardhills.bsky.social
Making public transport easy, reliable and accessible for as many people as possible not only makes those trips far faster it also frees up the roads for those who have to drive or don’t have good access to public transport.

We’ve got successful examples of moving the majority of people…
richardhills.bsky.social
There are at least 3x the number of people in those three buses than in the cars you can see on the motorway this morning.

This is why I fight for more public transport, more dedicated bus lanes, trains, ferries and hopefully one day light rail, even to the shore! It’s more efficient for everyone.
richardhills.bsky.social
Unemployment has increased by 50,000 since he’s been Prime Minister. That’s 50,000 families affected.

Luxon is just giving up his responsibility as Prime Minister for his citizens - to look tough against people who are trying their best.

Where are the jobs?
davidcormack.bsky.social
god help me. this is just cruelty. these are human beings, you monsters.
'The world doesn’t owe you a living’: PM says 4300 teens will lose Jobseeker benefit next year
Reposted by Richard Hills
clrenney.bsky.social
Since the election, there are 37,243 fewer 15-19 year olds in filled jobs. The jobs market for young people is as bad - if not worse - than the GFC. So adding 6% to the cost of tuition fees and halving apprenticeship boost support makes life even harder. Brilliant work National.
Reposted by Richard Hills
clrenney.bsky.social
This creates frankly bonkers outcomes. If one parent works an hour less a week, their child gets $13,942. In fact, one parent can work 11 hours less a week and the household is still better off. Secondary benefits (like Accommodation Supplement) are likely to stretch that gap even further
Reposted by Richard Hills
clrenney.bsky.social
#nzpol The government has announced that 18/19 year olds, who live in a household where the parents earn $65,529 or more, can't claim jobseekers support. If both parents work 27 hours on the minimum wage - $634 a week - they will be expected to now financially support their adult offspring. A 🧵
Reposted by Richard Hills
jjw.wtf
JJW @jjw.wtf · 3d
Some quotes from New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon:

• “The world doesn’t owe you a living”
• “I'm wealthy, I'm ‒ you know ‒ sorted.”
• “just make a marmite sandwich”
• “I don’t care.” (said multiple times since becoming PM)

Guy is a stone cold psycho.
richardhills.bsky.social
Great to be court side today at the finals of the North Harbour International 2025 at Badminton North Harbour. Such an awesome event over the last few days.

Nice catching up with BNH Chief Executive Glenn Cox, club sponsor and well known local Martin Cooper and Danielle Grant & others.
richardhills.bsky.social
He would say it’s the other way around 😆 But we have worked pretty well together over the term.
Reposted by Richard Hills
meganisalanis.bsky.social
I'm feeling very accomplished today - I supported our 18.5yo with her first ever vote. We have three envelopes ready to go 👍

I initially got the usual 'aw mum...', I said I'd explain it in 120secs or less, done ✔️ 😂
richardhills.bsky.social
Whoever is elected in our area will make decisions that affect you every day! Please encourage your friends and whānau. Why not drop their votes back for them too.

If you don’t have your voting pack or need to special vote you can do that at Birkenhead or Takapuna Library!!
Where to vote | Vote Auckland
Find your nearest location to drop off your vote, enrol to vote or cast a special vote.
voteauckland.co.nz
richardhills.bsky.social
Ten days to drop your votes back to a library or a Woolworths! (7 days for a post box). Nice chatting to Birkenhead residents getting on the ferry on this beautiful morning.

Look I know voting isn’t always the sexiest thing to, but it’s super important.
Reposted by Richard Hills
mehr.nz
saw this from @richardhills.bsky.social on the facebook, very cool improvement to Auckland's bus infrastructure. more charging infra means more electric buses! #nzpol

www.facebook.com/share/p/1BMJ...
picture of big bus charging thing hanging over buses Richard Hills
19m
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You may have noticed the awesome new charging gantry at the Glenfield Kinetic bus depot. It’s the first-of-its-kind large-scale overhead gantry charging system in Aotearoa - New Zealand. This system is 25% more space-efficient than ground-mounted charging points, allowing more buses to be accommodated within the existing facility.
I posted about the new EV buses on the 82 and 923/924 buses last week, this is where the 31 buses serving our communities are charged. Brought to you in partnership with Auckland Transport and Kinetic. 
Glenfield is the fifth Kinetic depot in Auckland to be upgraded to support a growing zero emissions fleet.
I am proud to have helped led the way on this, alongside Auckland Transport, both by leading the banning of purchasing new diesel buses and helping fund the rollout through both our climate initiatives fund in 2021 and the 2022 Climate Action Targeted Rate which both continue to have the support of the mayor and council this term, after the community supprted these actions with almost 70% submissions in support. 
Auckland now has more zero emission buses than any other city in Australasia with a total of 255 travelling through our neighbourhoods. The addition of these 31 new buses, and the associated electric infrastructure, will help us to achieve a fully zero emission bus fleet by 2035 or earlier. We will have 450 on the road by mid next year. 
These buses drastically reduce noise and air pollution in our neighbourhoods and town centres as well as reducing our emissions, and with 43% Auckland’s emissions profile being from transport it is crucial we improve the services for Aucklanders to reduce emissions from cars but also from the public transport themselves. 
The North Shore has some of the highest bus use in the country, so these buses will help ensure we are doing our bit for the environment, the planet and future generations. 
I’ve had lots of great feedback already. Thanks for catching the bus and making …
richardhills.bsky.social
We’ll have one electric on the water earlier next year, well it is on the water but will be in service. Another late next year. And the two hybrid low emission will be hopefully next year too. Unfortunately the govt cut the subsidy for the rollout so we aren’t guaranteed to have any more after that
richardhills.bsky.social
Safeguarding our coast & preparing for climate change - I’ve loved leading this work with our talented coastal team. We’ve confirmed 18 shoreline adaptation plans covering nearly all 3,200km of coastline around Tāmaki Makaurau.

See more here: ourauckland.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/media-centre...