18 December 2019

Revelations this week Cabinet will decide on a ‘delivery partner’ not a ‘specific solution’ in the near year for the Government’s troubled Auckland light rail project shows staggering Government incompetence, National’s Transport spokesperson Chris Bishop says.

“Transport Minister Phil Twyford has another KiwiBuild on his hands. This was a flagship promise from the Labour Government, the Prime Minister said light rail would be built to Mt Roskill by 2021.

“Now we find at the end of 2019, Cabinet won’t even decide on a particularly proposal until early 2020. Instead, Cabinet will pick a ‘partner’, between NZTA and NZ Infra bid by NZ Super Fund, with the details to be sorted out later.

“Matt Lowrie from Greater Auckland is completely right when he says, ‘you don’t go to Fletchers’ and say ‘we want you to build us a road’ and Fletchers go ‘okay where do you want us to build it?’ and [then] go ‘I don’t know we’ll work that out later’.’

“In Parliament today the only thing Phil Twyford was able to say about light rail was that it would be rail on two tracks and it would be in Auckland.

“This is a staggering display of ineptitude by the Government. Two years into its time in Government, there is no exact route, no delivery model, no design work done, no costings, no consents, no designations, no business case – nothing.

“Light rail is a metaphor for this Government – it’s going nowhere.”

ends

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