Gordon Campbell | Parliament TV | Parliament Today | Video | Questions Of the Day | Search

 


Taxpayers hit with an extra $2.4b for Transmission Gully PPP

Phil Twyford
Transport Spokesperson

Taxpayers hit with an extra $2.4 billion for Transmission Gully PPP

Building Transmission Gully as a public private partnership (PPP) will triple the cost to the taxpayer - to $3.4 billion - according to documents released under the OIA.

Labour’s transport spokesperson, Phil Twyford, said the use of a PPP would cost an arm and a leg, but the potential benefits were hugely uncertain.

”The only reason the Government wants to do it is that they have blown the budget on their mega motorway projects.

“A PPP for Transmission Gully is a way of building now and paying later, and Government accounting rules mean the liability won’t affect its debt reduction targets. It’s smoke and mirrors.

“Cabinet papers show that having Transmission Gully as a PPP will cost an extra 3 per cent of National Land Transport revenue – or $125 million – every year for 25 years.

“Transport officials confirmed the cost would triple but were unable to cite explicit evidence that handing the project over to the private sector to design and build would offer any specific benefits when they appeared before Parliament’s transport committee today.

“In fact the history of PPPs in big transport projects is littered with financial disasters, with four big projects in Australia falling over in recent years.

“The PPP for Transmission Gully is just one of the ways the Government is desperately trying to fund its out of control motorway building programme. It is already spending $1 billion a year on new motorways, some of which are very low value by the Government’s own figures.

“In order to build more motorways faster the Government is changing the law to allow borrowing for motorways, and is bringing in a petrol tax rise that will net more than $6 billion over the next 10 years – as well as the Transmission Gully PPP.

“This Government’s appetite for motorway projects of dubious economic value is insatiable. To keep on feeding the beast it is willing to gouge the motorist and mortgage future generations.”

ENDS

© Scoop Media

 
 
 
 
 
Parliament Headlines | Politics Headlines | Regional Headlines

Full Scoop Coverage: NZ Budget 2013

Gordon Campbell: On Failures Of Care For Those With Mental Disabilities

Hard to imagine a more disturbing insight into the treatment of the vulnerable than the Health Ministry report on Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau. The Ministry has found that the country’s only kaupapa Maori intellectual disability residential care provider has been “seriously dysfunctional.”

The ministry says the business has failed to recruit and retain quality staff – and says the kaimahi (caregivers) that have been employed are seriously unsuitable for the job, lacking basic knowledge. But Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau doesn’t get all the blame. The report says there’s a significant gap under disability laws to ensure there’s oversight by qualified clinical professionals. More>>

 

Parliament Today:

Judgment: Court Finds Against Legal Aid Changes

The Court has allowed in part an appeal by the Criminal Bar Association from a judgment of the High Court concerning the lawfulness of the Government’s criminal legal aid policy. More>>

Mighty River: 'Mum And Dad’ Investors Myth Busted

Green Party research, confirmed by Treasury, shows that half of the shares in Mighty River Power that National sold to retail investors went to just 13,000 people and that 10 percent of the retail shares went to just 400 wealthy people and organisations. More>>

Lockwood in London: Answers Needed On High Commissioner’s Residence

New Zealand taxpayers should be told why they are having to fork out $7500 a week to pay for alternative premises for the High Commissioner in London while the official residence remains empty, Labour’s Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Phil Goff, says. More>>

ALSO:

Wellington: Council Kick-Starts Airport Extension

Mayor Celia Wade-Brown said today that a runway extension is crucial to attracting long-haul international flights to the Capital City and will grow the economy of the lower North Island. More>>

ALSO:

Burst Of Psychoactivity: Legal Highs Bill To Be "Even Faster-Tracked"

Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne wants to push the Psychoactive Substances Bill through Parliament faster than planned when it returns from the select committee in mid-June, with the aim of having the legislation in place in July. More>>

ALSO:

Colin Craig: New Twitter Security Welcomed

Conservative Party leader Colin Craig is welcoming the announcement from Twitter today that new security measures are being introduced. This announcement coincidentally follows yesterday’s hijacking of his twitter account. More>>

ALSO:

"Unlawful, Unjustified And Unreasonable": Report Into Urewera Raids Finds Police Acted Unlawfully

IPCA Chair Judge Sir David Carruthers said today that the decision to undertake the operation in Ruatoki Valley and elsewhere on 15 October 2007 was reasonable and justified. “However, the road blocks established by Police at Ruatoki and Taneatua were unlawful, unjustified and unreasonable... ” The detention of the occupants at five properties examined by the Authority was unlawful and unreasonable. More>>

ALSO:

Better Insulate Than Never: Reaching For The Rug This Winter? You’re Not Alone

The nationwide Canstar Blue survey - of 2060 people examining consumer satisfaction with electricity providers - found that more than one third (36%) of respondents can’t afford to heat their home adequately in the winter, with Gen Ys and women finding it the toughest. More>>

ALSO:

One More Stays Open: Interim Decisions For Five Aranui Schools

“The proposal for a new campus originally included all five schools in the Aranui area. In reviewing the submissions and undertaking further analysis – with a focus on ensuring an exciting brand new education concept for Aranui children – we can achieve this and maintain a strong intermediate option in Chisnallwood. More>>

ALSO:

Get More From Scoop

 

LATEST HEADLINES

More RSS  RSS
 
 
 
 
Parliament
Search Scoop  
 
 
Powered by Vodafone
NZ independent news