As of September the government had spent $148,545 on the hotline, Labour says. Photo: Photo / 123RF
The government is shutting down its road cone hotline ahead of schedule, saying it has met its objectives, but Labour's calling it a "performative battle" and a waste of money.
The hotline was set up as part of changes to health and safety, following a directive by Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden telling WorkSafe to shift its focus from enforcement to advice.
It was meant to provide an opportunity for the public to highlight instances of overcompliance.
The data showed in the month of July WorkSafe received 217 reports of excessive road cone use, down from 641 in June when it opened.
Brooke van Velden Photo: Screenshot
Van Velden said the hotline had collected valuable data and allowed for relationship building with road controlling authorities. She also said it had met its objectives, "giving the public a voice, identifying the root causes of concern, and clarifying WorkSafe's role in relation to temporary traffic management".
"This pilot has done exactly what we needed it to do," she said.
"We now understand what's really causing the excessive use of road cones, and changing to a risk-based approach is key to resolving these issues."
Site visits had revealed that 86 percent of sites were compliant with the number of cones and other temporary traffic management devices, said van Velden.
The problem seemed to be that councils across the country were not required to apply NZTA's most recent guidance to temporary traffic management, so while the use of road cones might be consistent with council-approved plans, they might still be excessive.
In the future, NZTA has said all councils must be fully compliant with the new guidance by 1 July, 2027. The hotline will close on Friday.
After Green Party data suggested a $750 cost per cone removed, Van Velden maintained it was money well spent.
"I think it is really well, useful money spent because every time I went out and talked about health and safety reform at our health and safety roadshow, road cones came up as the number one issue of concern.
"I don't think it would have been acceptable for this government not to listen to New Zealanders and do something about it."
She pushed back on suggestions it might have been easier to discover how many road cones were not compliant with council rules by seeking the information from councils.
"I'm sorry, but this is a government that actually goes out and talks to the real people on the ground, not to bureaucrats," she said.
"There was a lot of concern that WorkSafe was going to be prosecuting people for not putting out the right amount of road cones ... it's been really valuable understanding from WorkSafe that they will not - and they've given a guarantee - that they will not overstep."
What the hotline had changed was people's perception of where the problem of too many cones was coming from, she said.
"The real issue lies with the councils signing off on needing excessive use in the first place, which is why as a government we're not just asking these councils to sign up to the new risk-based proportionate temporary traffic management they will need to."
Labour's response
Tangi Utikere Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
The Labour Party has labelled it "one of the government's most absurd wastes of public money". The party called it a "cone of silence" and said the hotline "failed to deliver."
Transport spokesperson Tangi Utikere said not only was it "virtually unused", but the government also couldn't say "how many cones it resulted in removing".
"One objective the government had was the removal of non-compliant cones, but 93 percent of callouts had cones used perfectly. Who would have thought."
Utikere said by November 2025, there was an average of fewer than 20 valid complaints per week nationwide. As of September he said, the government had spent $148,545 on the hotline, or $136.15 for "every one of the 1091 complaints logged to that point".
"Now that Chris Bishop and Brooke van Velden have completed their performative battle with the cones, it's my hope not a single road cone is on top of a tree, on the head of a statue, or a single centimetre out of place over summer.
"Rest in peace road cone hotline, you will not be missed," Utikere said.
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