Rt Hon Winston Peters
New Zealand First Leader
19 June 2013

EMBARGOED AGAINST DELIVERY

Speech: Good Ground Real Estate Business Breakfast         

Venue: Outboards Restaurant, Ruakaka Tavern, Whangarei

Wednesday 19 June 2013, 7.45 am

“Northland’s Future Derailed By National”

I am very pleased to be here with you today and have this opportunity to speak to you on how NZ First sees the future of railways in Northland.

Put simply, we see investment in rail infrastructure as vital for Northland’s development and future prosperity.

Unfortunately when it comes to transport infrastructure the National Government has a blind spot.

It does not have a properly integrated and coordinated land transport plan.

The result is that on transport infrastructure, its thinking is quite unbalanced and one dimensional.

Let me be clear - NZ First is not an anti-road - nor an anti-motorway party.

Transport planning is not about either road or rail – but rather which mode is best suited to meet particular transport needs.

A sensible transport policy has to recognise the role of all modes.

For example, in Northland we face the issue of moving logs and timber products.

It is obvious that any high volumes of logs or other bulky goods are best moved by rail.

Most countries recognise this.

Any shift from rail to road means more logging trucks that will inevitably damage the roads and increase costs to the taxpayer.

Unfortunately for Northland and New Zealand the National party is clearly anti-rail.

It has long had a clear agenda to undermine and dismantle much of New Zealand’s rail infrastructure. The evidence is clear from:

·         National sold NZ Rail in July 1993..

·         They allowed the purchasers to asset strip and run railways down.

·         They allowed railways shares to go from a peak of $9 plus a share to fall to 28 cents a share.

·         Within 3 weeks of the sale announcement the purchasers’ share price went up massively.

·         This sale never went to tender.

·         NZRail financial adviser at the time was Fay Richwhite who was also one of the buyers.

·         More recently, National closed the Hillside Workshops in Dunedin at the end of last year.

·         KiwiRail preferred to select overseas tenders to manufacture rolling stock rather than accept bids from Hillside for such contracts;

·         Hundreds of rail maintenance workers were sacked last year.

·         National has continued to refuse to support the Auckland City Rail Link.

It is very telling that we have a so called RONS programme for Roads of National Significance running into over $10 billion.

But unfortunately there is no Railways of National Significance Programme!

And the closure of the Napier - Gisborne line – under the guise of mothballing it - should serve as a stark warning to all of Northland.

That line was washed out in a storm – and then KiwiRail and the Government used that event as a pretext to get rid of the line.

A similar Sword of Damocles hangs over the Northland rail links. 

Say the line North from Auckland was breached in some way.

Right now there is no assurance that the Government would not use such an event as an opportunity to close the line entirely.

They did it to Napier-Gisborne line and they will do it the line North of Auckland if they can get away with it.

National are so short-sighted and ideological that they would be quietly delighted to see another rail link abandoned.

You have heard the expression “for want a horse the battle was lost”.

Well, for failure to find $4m, the Napier –Gisborne line was lost!

$4 million is over one million less than the three year salary for the head man at Mighty River power.

Four million is five times less than the cost thus far of trying to fix the Novapay debacle.

$4m is small change for any of the Roads of National Significance projects.

The money could have been found to save the Napier-Gisborne line but the Government had absolutely no will to do so.

So we have a government that is not only anti-rail but also anti-regional development.

What does that means for Northland?

What we do know is that KiwiRail is struggling under the financial limits of its “turnaround” plan.

It has signalled that the Northland line is marginal from a financial point of view.

In its latest annual report KiwiRail declared:

“As part of building a financially sustainable business, we have been reviewing the future of minor lines that carry low levels of traffic. The two lines that have attracted most attention have been North-Auckland and Napier-Gisborne.”

Well we all know the fate of the Napier-Gisborne Line.

The North Auckland line is the next target.

The blunt fact is that KiwiRail is locked into a financial straightjacket that does not apply to the major roading projects.

What that means is that the Northland rail line is threatened – it means that you have to fight to retain and enhance your rail link.

The NZ First position on the Northland line is clear.

Northland needs good rail connections to the rest of New Zealand if it is to grow and provide some sort of future for the people,

That means upgrading the Auckland to Whangarei line.

That will involve substantial cost but it is not pie in the sky – it is manageable. KiwiRail  has estimated the upgrade of the North Auckland lines to be around $200 million.

And good rail links means developing a rail link from the main line to Marsden Point.

It is high time that the port of Northland and Marsden Point was rail connected.  

KiwiRail has put a figure for the branch line spur out to the port – or Marsden Point - to be around $100 million.

The $100million is over $20million less than the sort of money the Government spent on consultants and spin doctors to promote the sale of Mighty River Power.

The costs are not excessive in terms of transport infrastructure projects and the potential benefits are huge.

Whangarei has great advantages as a deep water harbour that does not require dredging.

There is also plenty of land for expansion. 

There is great scope for it to serve as a container port and take pressure off Auckland and Tauranga.

But the potential of the Port of Northland for the region, as well as for the country as a whole, is being strangled by lack of an effective rail link.

There are times when a Government has to show some vision – it has to lead.

Getting the Port of Northland properly rail connected is one such situation.

Because there is more at stake than the sanctity of KiwiRail’s balance sheet.

There is an opportunity to put in place infrastructure that will be of ongoing benefit to Northland and New Zealand as a whole.

Conclusion

The situation is clear and serious.

Northland needs to retain and expand its rail infrastructure if its economy is to develop.

And that is NZ First policy.

Our policy can be summed up as follows:

Northland needs to be on track for future growth.

It has the highest rate of unemployment in New Zealand.

It is rich in resources and the history of the area shows we Northlanders are an innovative and hardy people.

All we need is a fair go from Central government and we need it now!

You know how to shake up the Capital.

This time don’t use an axe on a flagpole – use your votes!

It’s the only way now to make them sit up and take notice!

ENDS

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