A joined up plan for a disrupted city

As the government and Auckland council agree to work together on transport in our largest city, new data analysis estimates how many hours commuters will lose next year to Auckland rail closures

In today’s edition: the expansion of the immigration green list; reports that an announcement about ministerial retirements will be made today; the real number of visitors to the Auckland Art Gallery; but first, just how terrible will public transport in our biggest city be next year?

Rail closures in 2023 will waste over a million hours of Aucklanders' time (Image: Toby Morris)

A million hours lost 

One million. That’s how many hours Emma Vitz estimates will be lost by commuters next year when rail lines in Auckland close for repair. Vitz has published her data analysis on The Spinoff this morning. Vitz has estimated how many people would take the train during the time period of the closures, and how much longer an equivalent bus journey would take them. KiwiRail is closing large parts of the Auckland rail network between 2023 and 2025 to replace the rock foundations underneath the tracks to make sure they will be able to deal with an expected growing number of people on trains. Three rail lines will be closed for extended periods in 2023.

Immigration rule changes expected to ease bus driver shortage

Yesterday’s immigration announcement couldn’t have come a moment too soon. Under the rule change, bus and truck drivers would have a time-limited two-year residence pathway through a sector agreement. With the Auckland rail lines closed next year, rail services will be replaced by buses. Auckland Transport has cancelled thousands of bus trips this year because of a bus driver shortage. The sector expects the immigration changes to ease the shortage. Auckland mayor Wayne Brown issued a statement last night saying the changes suggest that the government is now listening to Aucklanders. Still on Brown’s transport to-do list however, is “preventing or mitigating the two years of disruption to trains that Auckland commuters face because of poor line-maintenance planning.”

Government and council agree to joined up approach to transport in Auckland

Brown’s statement comes after Saturday’s announcement of an agreement between the government and Auckland council to work on a joint plan for Auckland’s transport infrastructure. The announcement included a $200m funding boost for the Eastern Busway. As Stuff’s Todd Niall writes, while the funding boost is significant, the agreement to be more coordinated in dealing with the city’s other big-ticket transport projects may be a bigger step forward. 

Mayor wants port gone by 2040

Brown also announced yesterday that he wants the port gone from Auckland’s waterfront by 2040. Under Brown's proposed timeline the Captain Cook wharf and part of the Bledisloe wharf would be cleared by December 2024 and the Fergusson​ container terminal would be gone by December 2039. The government was aware of Brown’s timeline when it agreed to work with the council on transport. Auckland’s council-owned port company said the release of the plan by the mayor was “unexpected” and appeared to predetermine the outcome of work still to be done.

Good for the world can also be good for business.

Ken Webster literally wrote the book on incorporating circular economy concepts into business. He recently sat down for a special live recording of Business is Boring, talking with host Simon Pound about the benefits and challenges of the approach – and what the world of business could gain by changing its ways. Listen to the episode here, and subscribe to Business is Boring today.

National welcomes the immigration setting changes but say it should have hppened a year ago

National's immigration spokesperson, Erica Stanford says the "major backdown" on giving migrant nurses a direct pathway to residence "should have happened a year ago". Yesterday’s announcement on changes to immigration settings added nurses, midwives and any specialist doctors not already eligible on the straight-to-residency immigration green list. It comes after months of criticism about why nurses weren’t added to the green list when it first announced in July. Teachers will also be added to the work to residence pathway, along with drainlayers, motor mechanics and other roles. As noted in today’s lead, bus and truck drivers will be eligible for a new temporary residence pathway.

Reports of retirement announcements today

Politik’s Richard Harman is reporting (paywalled) that today may be the day for the announcement about which government ministers will be retiring. As Harman writes, David Clark’s name has already been leaked and “possibly three or four others are expected to join him.” Harman also outlines who might be promoted when a cabinet reshuffle is done in the new year. Harman writes “expect to see names like Mana MP Barbara Edmonds, Palmerston North MP Tangi Utikere, Auckland list MP Camilla Belich and Dunedin list MP (and favourite to replace Clark in Dunedin) Rachel Brooking brought into ministerial roles; not necessarily within the cabinet but certainly on the ministerial list.”

The Spinoff's independent, homegrown journalism is only possible thanks to the support of our members. Their generous donations power all our mahi including this newsletter. If you’ve enjoyed The Spinoff this year and have the means, please show your support by making a contribution today. E tōmua ana tōku mihi.

The real number of visitors to the Auckland Art Gallery

The Herald’s Simon Wilson reveals the true number of visitors (paywalled) to the Auckland Art Gallery in the three months to September. Last week Auckland mayor Wayne Brown complained about the cost of the gallery. He said he knew it made him “a bit of a Philistine”, but he was annoyed that only 9,516 people had visited the gallery in the three months to September this year according to a report in front of him. That figure is in fact the number of tickets sold to exhibitions with paid entry. Most shows at the gallery are free and the true number of gallery visitors for the period, not listed in the report, was 76,874.

Click and collect

• Some of The Spinoff’s biggest stories this year have been given the print cover treatment

• British American Tobacco is threatening legal action against the government over a review of New Zealand’s vaping products

• Grounded Kiwis says the Chief Ombudsman criticisms of the MIQ allocation system don’t go far enough

• Parliament is now partly solar-powered

• All the winners from the New Zealand netball awards

End of year extra credit request

‘Tis the season for giving and teachers will be on many people’s lists. If you’re a teacher, we would love to see some of the weirdest and/or best gifts and cards you’ve received from your students over the years. If you’re a parent and have a great memory or photo of what your kids have given their teachers over the years, we’d love to hear about those too. Just send them through to me thebulletin@thespinoff.co.nz.

Got some feedback about The Bulletin, or anything in the news? Get in touch with me at thebulletin@thespinoff.co.nz.

If you liked what you read today, share The Bulletin with friends, family and colleagues.

Right now on The Spinoff:

Duncan Greive talks to broadcasting minister Willie Jackson about how Q+A went so wrong, and what his media reforms are really about. Morgan Godfery finds a compelling case for co-governance in historian Ned Fletcher’s timely book The English Text of the Treaty of Waitangi. We're far from perfect on plastic, but Emma Ricketts says living in the US has shown her how far New Zealand has come. Thomas Airey attends Super Rugby's most celebratory jersey launch since... forever? And Anna Foley remembers the time she and her husband beat a beloved British TV game show.

For those spending the holidays in a state of contemplation

“My therapist told me she was dying the way someone else might admit to cancelling their gym membership.”

Read this now or when you’re done staring at the horizon in the days between Christmas and the new year. I really loved this from Phoebe Greenwood about what she learned from her dying therapist. The premise is wonderful, it’s beautifully written and it’s life affirming in the way that writing about death can sometimes be. 

Gone By Lunchtime wins gold

Congratulations to everyone involved with The Spinoff’s politics podcast, Gone by Lunchtime, for winning best current affairs podcast at the New Zealand podcast awards yesterday. The Listeners’ Choice award went to Culture Vulture from Shit You Should Care About and Eugene Bingham and Adam Dudding’s The Commune won podcast of the year. Full list here for some good road trip recommendations.