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Labour is under fire from National for allegedly stacking the Government's new transport super-agency with "its stooges".
National's transport spokesman, Maurice Williamson, has pointed to existing or previous Labour ties of half the New Zealand Transport Agency's eight-member board.
He listed these as Labour Party president Mike Williams, "failed" Wellington Central Labour candidate Alick Shaw, "ex-Labour mayor of Christchurch" Garry Moore, and former Auckland City councillor and planner Christine Caughey.
Although Ms Caughey's Action Hobson presence on the council until her team's defeat last year was independent of any political party, she was selected by a joint venture including Labour-aligned City Vision in 2003 to stand for the Hobson Community Board.
Mr Williams is also a board member of the Auckland Regional Transport Authority, rail agency Ontrack, Genesis Energy and the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences.
This will be his last week on the board of Transit NZ, which is being merged with Land Transport NZ to operate from Friday as the New Zealand Transport Agency.
Mr Williamson said Mr Williams' income from Government board appointments "must be nearly enough to fund Labour's entire election campaign. Labour's cronyism knows no bounds".
He said that having campaigned publicly against building new roads, Ms Caughey was the last person who should be a board member of the new agency subsuming Transit, the Government's road builder.
Mr Williams would not comment on his appointments, but Ms Caughey said she had never joined any political party, and was more "blue green" than Labour.
Although Action Hobson gained a foothold on the city council through opposing the Eastern Motorway proposal, she had supported the State Highway 20 motorway extension.
Transport Minister Annette King said the appointees to the new organisation were "all people with the appropriate skills and talents we need on the board".
