Bay of Plenty MP Tom Rutherford (left) and Tauranga MP Sam Uffindell, both of National, Labour list MP Jan Tinetti and Act List MP Cameron Luxton hit the road together. Photo / Facebook
Bay of Plenty MP Tom Rutherford (left) and Tauranga MP Sam Uffindell, both of National, Labour list MP Jan Tinetti and Act List MP Cameron Luxton hit the road together. Photo / Facebook
Four Tauranga-based MPs completed an unplanned, cross-country, cross-party road trip yesterday after wild weather cancelled flights to Wellington.
Tauranga MP Sam Uffindell (National), Bay of Plenty MP Tom Rutherford (National), List MP Jan Tinetti (Labour) and List MP Cameron Luxton (Act) crammed into a Mitsubishi hire car and drovefrom Tauranga to Parliament in Wellington.
None missed the opportunity to share snaps from the seven-hour trip down the North Island on their social media.
“Cross party MP roady to Wellington,” Uffindell wrote.
He said they earlier they had got as far as seeing the capital from the air, but heavy winds meant the plane could not land and was sent “back to the mighty Tauranga”.
Luxton dubbed it an “emergency coalition” and said there was “heaps of robust … banter".
“Reached a consensus on Transport policy: get to Wellington by dinner.”
Tinetti called it a “different start to the day”.
Rutherford told the Bay of Plenty Times there was “great conversation” the entire way with lots of laughs.
“It’s great that MPs from different parties can put differences aside and do this sort of thing.”
Luxton said the best part was a stop at the Bakehouse Cafe in Reporoa, near Rotorua.
“The discussions were collegial, a few laughs, we talked about Tauranga - where it’s been, where it’s going,” he said.
MPs Jan Tinetti (left), Tom Rutherford, Cameron Luxton and Sam Uffindell after a road trip to Parliament together. Photo / Facebook
High winds delayed or cancelled numerous flights in Wellington on Tuesday as the first of two severe weather systems moved north from the South Island.
Wellington recorded peak wind speeds of around 110-115km/h, while gusts as fast as 124km/h were recorded in the suburb of Kelburn.
A man died on Wellington’s Mt Victoria after being struck by a falling tree branch, and dashcam footage emerged of a pedestrian being blown on to the road.
