By Lillian Hanly of RNZ

The Government is shutting down its road-cone hotline before schedule, saying it has met its objectives, but Labour is 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 in the month of July showed WorkSafe received 217 reports of excessive road cone use, down from 641 in June when it opened.

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”.

Brooke van Velden.

“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% of sites were compliant with the number of cones and other temporary traffic management devices, van Velden said.

The problem seemed to be that councils across the country were not required to apply the most recent NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) guidance to temporary traffic management, so while the use of road cones might be consistent with council-approved plans, it might still be excessive.

In the future, NZTA has said all councils must be fully compliant with the new guidance by July 1, 2027. The hotline will close on Friday.

Labour’s response

The Labour Party has labelled it “one of the Government’s most absurd wastes of public money”. Labour called it a “cone of silence” and said the hotline “failed to deliver”.

Transport spokesman Tangi Utikere said not only was it “virtually unused”, but the Government also couldn’t say “how many cones it resulted in removing”.

Tangi Utikere. Photo / RNZ, Angus Dreaver

“One objective the Government had was the removal of non-compliant cones, but 93% of call-outs 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,” Utikere said.

“Rest in peace, road-cone hotline, you will not be missed.”

– RNZ