Peters sure he can take Northland
Winston Peters says he’s “confident” he can win his Northland seat and get his party back into parliament.
The New Zealand First leader addressed a small crowd on Auckland’s waterfront yesterday afternoon in a rally designed to draw attention to his proposal to move container operations to Northland.
Peters has pledged to have the relocation completed by the end of 2027 — opening 77ha of prime waterfront land for public use and the development of a new cruise ship terminal — if his party is elected.
His plan would stop vehicle deliveries by the end of 2019 and free up Captain Cook Wharf ahead of the America’s Cup.
Speaking to around 50 people yesterday, he said other cities such as London and Sydney had undertaken similar revitalisations of their waterfronts with great success.
“We will equip Auckland to be a city of the 21st century,” he said.
Peters wants legislation to move all container operations to Northport at Marsden Pt near Whangarei by the end of 2027.
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 — which doesn’t include any upgrade of Northport.
During a question and answer session, where Peters answered questions on everything from capital gains tax to why Queen St only had one public toilet, he also said he would put the national anthem to a referendum. No one ever sang it in pubs, he said. Asked about internal polling, Peters said: “Let’s just say I’m getting on with the job and I’m confident about [tomorrow] night.”
He was also asked about being the “kingmaker”, which he criticised as a pointless question.
“I despise that phrase frankly. (Neither) I nor my colleagues are in the job to be king or queen maker.”