Peters: I’ll move port
Exclusive NZ First leader wants shift north done by 2027, with cars gone by 2019
Winston Peters is set to give a “cast-iron commitment” to move from party theis in Portsa containerpositionof Aucklandof operationsinfluenceif his after the election.
The New Zealand First leader wants the relocation completed by the end of 2027 — opening up 77 hectares of prime waterfront land for public use and the development of a new cruise ship terminal. His plan would stop vehicle deliveries by the end of 2019 and free up Captain Cook Wharf ahead of the America’s Cup.
Peters will outline the commitment in a speech to the Economic Development Agencies Conference in Wellington today.
It is a strong signal that moving the port out of Auckland would be a top demand should his party hold the balance of power, as most current polling suggests it will.
Peters wants legislation to move all container operations to Northport at Marsden Point near Whangarei by the end of 2027.
“Aucklanders want their harbour back while Northlanders want the jobs and opportunity that would come from Northport’s transformation,” the Northland MP said.
“This is a cast-iron commitment from New Zealand First but it needs New Zealand First to be in a pivotal position to demand it,” Peters said.
“That requires people in Northland and Auckland to seriously adjust how they plan to vote.”
Peters said the benefits of open- ing up waterfront land in Auckland were “incalculable”, and expanding the port in Northland would spark an “economic renaissance”.
His party’s plan would create a “special economic area” near Northport, which would be dutyfree, GST-free and tax-free. Peters said another such area could later be established in Southland.
It would require the immediate upgrade of the Auckland-to-Northland rail line, including a new rail spur to Northport. KiwiRail has
put the cost of doing so in the billions of dollars — a cost that doesn’t include any upgrade of Northport.
Auckland Council owns 100 per cent of Ports of Auckland through Auckland Council Investments Ltd (ACIL), and recently valued the company at $1.1 billion. Last year Ports of Auckland paid $42.2m in dividends and capital returns to ACIL.
Auckland Mayor Phil Goff campaigned on moving the port, and in May confirmed he wanted to progress those plans. But Goff suggested the Firth of Thames could be a new location for port operations. He said the move could take up to 20 years and any decisions would be made by councillors.
Auckland councillor Mike Lee has warned against the push to move the port, saying it has paid the region more than $1b in dividends, enabling the development of Britomart, the North Shore busway and other key projects.
Transport Minister Simon Bridges last year said he didn’t think moving the port was realistic, given the huge cost and associated environmental and cultural challenges.
Peters said he would stop public money going on efforts for a new port in the Firth of Thames, saying it was expensive and “highly problematic” environmentally.
The legislation NZ First wants to be introduced would put a deadline on transferring vehicle deliveries from Auckland to Northport by the end of 2019, which Peters said would free up Captain Cook Wharf ahead of the next America’s Cup. Container operations at the Port of Auckland would be stopped no later than December 31, 2027.
Peters has long campaigned for a rail link to Northport and previously indicated it would be one of his top demands, telling The Nation in July, “this is going to happen”.
In April last year KiwiRail asset manager Dave Gordon told a Grow Northland Rail public seminar the cost of getting Northland’s rail network operating to the same standard as other regions would be up to $1b.
If Northport was to become a major export port it would need to receive products from areas south of Auckland, Gordon told the public meeting, and there was currently no efficient rail link through Auckland. Work to change that would likely cost another $2-3b.
Former Labour MP Shane Jones is standing as a New Zealand First candidate in Whangarei, and today’s pledge will aid his campaign there, with one recent poll putting him well behind National MP Shane Reti.
A council-commissioned Port Future Study released last year concluded Auckland’s port could absorb freight growth for several decades, but in the longer-term would likely need to be relocated.
It recommended the Manukau Harbour and Firth of Thames be investigated as relocation sites.