Twyford corrects his NZTA record
Phil Twyford yesterday corrected the parliamentary record after it was discovered he made an incorrect statement to Parliament last month.
The transport minister was asked in October whether he stood by his statement that none of the previous New Zealand Transport Agency board had wanted to ‘‘stay on’’ when their terms expired. He responded by saying he stood by this statement, which was incorrect.
Twyford told the House yesterday that he had this wrong. He remembered he had asked one member, Mark Darrow, to stay on the board until February 2020, in the interests of continuity.
He has since recalled that Darrow responded that he would like to stay on for another term.
The mistake was revealed in a story by Stuff last week.
‘‘Since then, I have reviewed my correspondence, and in May, in response to my request that he stay on the board for a short time, Mark Darrow said he would be interested in staying on for a second term,’’ Twyford told Parliament.
‘‘It was one letter that I received six months ago,’’ Twyford told media ahead of the correction.
He renewed the previous NZTA board in September, announcing that all previous members would leave, bar the chair – Sir Brian Roche – who Twyford appointed months earlier. Since then, David Smol, another former board member, was announced as staying on.
Leaked documents revealed by Stuff, including a letter from the former interim chairman Nick Rogers, showed the previous board’s mounting frustration with Twyford, who was seen as indecisive in his handling of the plan to build light rail in Auckland.
Ahead of his correction to the House, Twyford said that he had actually discussed keeping on several board members.
On September 19, he confirmed to Stuff that no-one had expressed a preference or even wanted to stay on the board.
However, it’s understood these remarks were made in the context of questions over whether or not the board had been sacked, not whether board members asked to stay on in the interests of short term continuity.