Can Auckland Light Rail be saved?

National have made it clear they want it gone asap, but Wayne Brown is urging the new government to consider a slimmed-down version before pulling the plug.

Mōrena, and welcome to The Bulletin for Friday, October 20, by Catherine McGregor. Presented in partnership with Z Energy.

In today’s edition: Wellington’s fire-gutted historic building to be demolished; First-home buyers lost out under both National and Labour, study shows; Barrister warns hospo industry not to get over its skis on the repeal of fair pay agreements. But first, as Auckland’s light rail dream goes down the gurgler, one commentator says it’s Labour, not National, that’s to blame.

A long and costly railroad to nowhere?

In April 2018 the Labour government unveiled the Auckland Transport Alignment Project – ATAP – and with it, the promise of light rail to the airport and out to Kumeu. That was before Covid delays, Phil Twyford’s departure, the decision to tear up plans for a street level service in favour of a tunnel, and a budget (for the airport leg alone) that ballooned from $3.4b in 2018 to $14.6b in 2023. Now the Auckland Light Rail saga looks to be over, with incoming prime minister Christopher Luxon confirming plans to cancel the “white elephant” of a project. Mayor Wayne Brown, a critic of the existing scheme, says abandoning the whole thing would be throwing the baby out with the bathwater. There are far cheaper ways to deliver light rail for Auckland, he tells Newshub. Speaking to RNZ, transport commentator Matt Lowrie agrees the project can be saved – but only if the government gives up the tunnelling plan. For the cost of one mega-costly tunnel, Auckland could have three ground-level lines providing “three times the benefit – or even more so – because we've got an actual network we're building, we've got more capacity overall”. 

Where did it all go so wrong?

If, as seems likely, the project is completely goneburger, Auckland can bid farewell to light rail for decades to come, Lowrie tells RNZ, “because that project has been managed so poorly”. He expands on his criticisms in a review of Labour’s record on transport on his Greater Auckland site. By and large, it’s “been a massive disappointment”, he says, with ministers consistently failing to back up big talk with concrete results. The government put “too much trust in officials to deliver change” and then turned around and rewarded those same officials for lack of delivery. The one clear bright spot in Labour’s transport record is its support for electric vehicles through the Clean Car Discount scheme, he says. Before we leave Auckland Light Rail, an awkwardly timed bit of news via Oliver Lewis at Businessdesk (paywalled), who reports that ALR has just settled on the $33m Kiwi Bacon building on New North Road in Kingsland. On the prospect that it may almost immediately be surplus to requirements, chief executive Tommy Parker says: “Properties can be on-sold if no longer required.”

Too late to stop us now, says Wellington mayor 

One transport plan the government won’t be stopping is the semi-pedestrianisation of Wellington’s Lambton Quay and Courtenay Place. The construction contract for the Golden Mile project is “literally days away”, mayor Tory Whanau tells The Spinoff’s Wellington editor, Joel MacManus. Presumed transport minister Simeon Brown “won’t be able to cancel it,” she says. “It’ll be well signed by the time they’re sworn in, as it should be.” Asked about it later by The Post’s Erin Gourley (paywalled), the mayor’s office refused to be drawn on exact timings. The pressure group opposing pedestrianisation, Guardians of the Golden Mile, says it’s outraged by Whanau’s comment, given that the council now has “no mandate whatsoever” because of the change of government. As for light rail in the capital, part of the Let’s Get Wellington Moving mega-scheme, National has also indicated it wants to scrap that. But Whanau won’t be giving it up without a fight, she tells MacManus this morning. Her plan? A group excursion across the ditch. “What I’m proposing is that me, Christopher Luxon, Simeon Brown and our local MPs head over to Canberra, Brisbane or Sydney and look at their really successful projects.” 

Hospitality industry looks forward to post FPA-life

Another Labour policy on the chopping block could be fair pay agreements (FPAs). They’re already law, but National has vowed to repeal it and introduce a new one reinstating 90-day employment trial periods – both promises that have been warmly welcomed by the hospitality industry. A Restaurant Association survey found that 80% of respondents were positive about what the change in government would mean for the industry, RNZ’s Bill Hickman reports. Still, they shouldn’t get ahead of themselves, barrister Mai Chen tells 1 News. Some of her clients have claimed they won’t need to engage with FPAs now – suggesting Luxon needs to be more careful with his language on the issue. “You can’t make a repeal of law by press statement, it has to go through parliament.”

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Fire-gutted historic building to be demolished

Wellington’s Toomath Building will be demolished following last weekend’s fire, in what frustrated heritage campaigners call a win for the owner. “It’s demolition by neglect, plain and simple,” Historic Places Wellington chair Felicity Wong tells Georgina Campbell at the Herald (paywalled). The Ghuznee building dates from 1900 and has historic value for its association with Edward Toomath, “an early Wellington settler regarded as the father of education in New Zealand”, Campbell reports. The council had been trying to get the building’s owner to carry out required seismic strengthening work for almost 20 years, and the building had been vacant since 2019. After years of legal wrangling, it seemed the parties could be close to an agreement – until the fire, the cause of which the police are still investigating. On Wednesday, councillor Iona Pannett said the situation demonstrated the need for a review of unworkable earthquake strengthening rules.  

First-home buyers lost out under both National and Labour, study shows

Neither National nor Labour have done much to improve housing affordability for first home buyers while in power, according to a study by Interest.co.nz. The Housing Affordability Report takes data from 2011-2017, under National, and 2017- 2023, Labour, and uses the median prices of lower quartile homes (which first home buyers are more likely to buy), mortgage rates, and “median after-tax pay for couples aged 25-29 working full time”, again as a proxy for likely first home buyers, to calculate overall affordability. Reporter Greg Ninness finds that while at the national level, affordability didn’t decrease significantly under National, mortgage payments as a fraction of take-home pay had ballooned in Auckland by 2017. Once Labour gained power, Auckland affordability continued to slip further for first-home buyers, with other regions rapidly playing catch-up. “So looking at the affordability picture for first home buyers over the last 12 years, it tells a pretty sorry tale whichever political party has been in power,” Ninness writes.

A message from Spinoff editor Madeleine Chapman

Thanks to the generous support of Spinoff Members, we were able to cover this election more expansively than ever before with writers reporting from Dunedin, Christchurch, Wellington, New Plymouth, Wairarapa, Gisborne, Auckland and Northland. With the results in, we will continue to interrogate and report on those who lead this country with rigour, range and humour. If you value The Spinoff’s political coverage, now is a great time to join the thousands of people who support The Spinoff by becoming a member or making a donation.

- Madeleine Chapman, Spinoff editor

The wind power revolution energising Aotearoa

What makes New Zealand one of the most geographically perfect places to harness the power of Tāwhirimātea? This week on When the Facts Change, Bernard Hickey talks with Giacomo Caleffi from Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners about how the NZ Super Fund could bolster their plan to build a massive offshore wind farm off the coast of South Taranaki. They discuss why offshore wind is so necessary in the transition to 100% renewable energy, and how renewable energy differs from renewable power.

Click and Collect

• Geoff and Justine Ross called in the police after receiving threats amid the fallout from their widely ridiculed Country Calendar appearance (paywalled).

• Newsroom has gone to the Court of Appeal to try to reverse a ban on their bombshell Oranga Tamariki investigation, which has been unavailable to view for nearly three years.  

• The National Theatre for Children at Wellington’s Capital E is closing down (paywalled).

• The discovery of multiple dead kororā (little penguin) chicks in the Hauraki Gulf has experts worried it may herald the start of a mass die-off.

• A first-home buyer couple lost their complaint to the Financial Services Authority over 2021 advice from a mortgage advisor not to fix for five years.

Right now on The Spinoff

Shanti Mathias looks at which political parties spent the most money on digital advertising during the election – and the answer will not surprise you. Hera Lindsay Bird advises a poet who feels like a fraud. Tommy de Silva reflects on the different outcomes for Indigenous people in Australia and Aotearoa following both countries’ votes last week. And The Spinoff’s documentary series Get It To Te Papa has just been re-released on YouTube – here's where to watch it all.

Sporting snippets

• The Silver Ferns kept their Constellation Cup hopes alive with a 56-53 win over Australia in Invercargill.

• New Zealand Rugby says it’s “extremely disappointed” by the behaviour of the crowd at the Meads Cup rugby final in Temuka .

• The UK’s Telegraph newspaper is predicting an easy win for New Zealand against Argentina. “The All Blacks should win at a canter. New Zealand by 15.”

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

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