Commercial interest groups accounted for around three-quarters of organisations meeting Transport Ministers over a five-year period, according to new research analysing ministerial diaries.
The study, by academics from the University of Otago and the University of Queensland, examined the published diaries of Transport and Associate Transport Ministers under the Labour-Green-New Zealand First coalition (2017–2020) and the subsequent Labour Government (2020–2022).
Of 11,079 total ministerial meetings recorded during the period, 880 were identified as meetings with interest groups related specifically to transport portfolios. Researchers categorised those groups by type and by their primary transport focus.
Across the 880 transport-related meetings, 974 individual organisations were identified. Of those, 74% were commercial entities — including 56% firms and 18% business associations.
Overall, commercial groups met with Transport Ministers about three times as often as non-commercial groups.
By sector focus, air travel interests — such as airlines and airports — had the highest level of access, accounting for 16% of meetings. Maritime interests followed at 11%, rail at 9%, automobiles at 8%, and consultancies — including economic, trade and policy consultancies, law firms, and PR and lobbying firms — at 6%.
Among non-commercial groups, citizen groups made up 9% of meetings and trade unions 7%.
Iwi and hapū and their organisations accounted for just 1% of encounters. Health groups were present in only six meetings — 0.7% of the total — over the six years analysed.
Ministerial diaries have been published since 2017, offering visibility into face-to-face political access. However, the researchers caution the records provide only a partial picture.
The diaries do not record who sought meetings but was declined, nor do they capture informal interactions. They also do not specify meeting content, meaning discussion topics were inferred from the organisations involved.
The period analysed coincided with efforts to reshape New Zealand’s transport system around low-carbon goals — many of which have since been reversed. The study notes that groups advocating for low-carbon transport were not dominant in face-to-face access, suggesting meetings are only one part of how policy direction is shaped.
The research was conducted by Caroline Shaw, Associate Professor in Public Health at the University of Otago, Katherine Cullerton, Senior Lecturer in Global Health and Health Policy at the University of Queensland, and colleagues Alex Macmillan, Ryan Gage and Alice Miller.
