The Big Auckland Transport announcement

Written By: - Date published: 1:30 pm, April 26th, 2018 - 39 comments
Categories: auckland supercity, labour, local government, phil goff, phil twyford, public transport, supercity, transport - Tags:

Minister Phil Twyford and Mayor Phil Goff announced the ATAP, the transport programme for Auckland for the next ten years.

At $28 billion it is the largest civil infrastructure programme since World War II.

That $28 billion comes from:

– $8.45 billion of borrowing and rates from Auckland Council

– $1.5 billion fuel tax (which also attracts FAR subsidy, so there’s
more in that)

– $16.3 billion NLTP

– $1.4 billion City Rail Link contribution

– $ .36 billion from Crown Infrastructure Partners

And that $28 billion is about 38% of the National Land Transport Fund
– just a fraction above Auckland’s national share of the population.

That goes to:

– $8.1 billion in operational costs (especially more for public transport subsidy as more people take public transport)

– $3.3 billion in asset renewals

– $8.4 billion in rapid transit, which covers busways, rapid rail, and light rail

– $3.8 billion on strategic and local roads

– $1.3 billion on roads etc for green fields areas

– $ .9 billion safety improvements, targeting a 50% reduction in death and injury

– $ .9 billion walking and cycling

– $ .7 billion bus and ferry improvements

– $ .7 billion network optimization

You will see more of the detail debated on GreaterAuckland, but I’m
keen to see how this lands politically, which is our speciality here.

Whangaparoa’s Penlink will be done as a ppp, and will also include busway improvements to Silverdale

Mill Road gets $.5 billion.

A busway to the airport from Puhinui will be very fast off the rank, with bus lanes to start, then full busway separation.

AMETI busway Panmure to Botany gets full funding.

There’s $1.8 billion in seed funding for light rail for both SH16 and first stage of light rail to airport. More on that later.

This Lake Taupo-sized volume of money will be difficult for both AT and NZTA to spend (AT rarely spends the capital it has in any year, and NZTA are full of motorway-heads resisting this Minister and are poorly led by their CE: let’s see if the new Chair makes a difference).

It will also be difficult for the infrastructure construction industry, especially with Fletcher Building not bidding for anything major in infrastructure any more. And skilled people very very hard to find. Let me know if you’re qualified and interested.

This is what transformation looks like.

Plenty will argue that this is a supply-driven response, not a demand-driven response to Auckland’s transport constraints. The same number of cars will be imported every week. Except, the fuel tax move is a pretty big demand lever.

Others will say it’s taking too much time. Or it’s somehow not enough. Or what about the … (insert special interest group). Worth checking the public transport stats in case you’re skeptical about spending on public transport.

My view is: this smells and looks like leadership.

It’s what they both campaigned on, so it tastes like Good Old Fashioned Politics.

It unites central and local government on transport like we haven’t seen before in this country.

It taxes, it spends, and spends to tilt Auckland’s future the right way.

This is as big as when they tore up the tram tracks and started building motorways in the 1950s.

It’s a really big deal.

39 comments on “The Big Auckland Transport announcement ”

  1. Adrian 1

    This is a once in a century opportunity to resurrect a form of Ministry of Works.
    I drove north from Christchurch yesterday and while there was no actual work going on ( Anzac Day, and the workers do need a break ) everywhere there were signs of provider capture, ticket clipping and for want of a better word profiteering.
    An example, on a several sort sections of roadworks a pilot truck and driver and half a dozen lollipop holders a at guesstimate cost on figures given unofficially to me,
    of over 1000 dollars an hour.
    For no obvious reason that a few restricted speed signs etc could control.
    And then there is the ubiquitous road cones. God knows who has cornered this scam but figures of up to $4 a day for every one have been bandied about. The total for the Kaikoura Coast must be in the millions a year. Once again I have heard of 25 million for a year.
    I’m sure the old MOW didn’t get anywhere near this for tea and biccies in its entire life.

    • Ad 1.1

      NZTA will already be massively strengthened over this announcement, and will need to be hugely transformed and geared up.

      I am also seeing NZTA take more of the major works off Auckland Transport, and as a result no major CAPEX within AT.

      But don’t for a moment think that everything is going to be brought back in-house again. It isn’t.

      • Adrian 1.1.1

        Don’t expect everything Ad, just enough to keep the bastards honest and put a lot of pressure on the cartelering ( if that’s even a word ) and the collusion. Yeah, it happens, a lot of it happens.
        Getting the money back for all those fucking roadcones would be a good start.

    • patricia bremner 1.2

      True Adrian. I always think of that song ” You don’t know what you’ve lost ’till it’s gone”

      Someone smarter than me will do a link to utube !!

    • Halfcrown 1.3

      “And then there is the ubiquitous road cones. God knows who has cornered this scam but figures of up to $4 a day for every one have been bandied about. The total for the Kaikoura Coast must be in the millions a year. Once again I have heard of 25 million for a year.
      I’m sure the old MOW didn’t get anywhere near this for tea and biccies in its entire life.”

      Well said Adrian. As Arther Daley would say ” A nice little earner”

    • Macro 1.4

      It’s not just road cones! Think of those movable barriers – put up to protect workers, and a legal requirement under OHS. One company has the rights for those in Auckland, and they charge megabucks to hire.

    • Wayne 1.5

      I think you will find modern health and safety rules explain a lot of modern practices. The look of construction sites is very different to what it was even 10 years ago. Makes no difference if it is state provided or private provided. Also modern roads are way flasher than those of 30 years ago, and a whole lot more expensive as a consequence.

  2. Tuppence Shrewsbury 2

    looks good. Cohesive regional policy built on community needs and facts, not just hopes regarding peoples behavior. Clever use of PPP’s and Tolls too. Maybe some changes to the RMA to make it happen in a more timely fashion could be next? But then waterview was done pretty quickly without any changes

  3. Stunned Mullet 3

    Yes good – now enough waffle get on with it.

  4. Cinny 4

    Really hope it works out for those who live there. Auckland traffic sounds like a daily nightmare at present, was bad enough when I was living there.

    Girls made a new friend at Kaiteriteri yesterday, she was from Auckland. Girls asked what it was like up there….. ‘lots and lots of roads, cars and houses’ was the reply. Made for a great conversation on the short drive home about the importance of public transport in cities, especially rail, especially to the airport.

    • Bewildered 4.1

      The nightmare is over played Cinny , normally your moving, waterview tunnel has made difference, as they say at least the roads in Auckland lead somewhere: in contrast to empty roads going no where😀 a great city to work and play

  5. Grafton Gully 5

    Advantage wrote in the above article –

    “It will also be difficult for the infrastructure construction industry, especially with Fletcher Building not bidding for anything major in infrastructure any more.”

    This only applies to the Buildings and Interiors Divisions.

    The Fletcher CEO was reported in the Herald today as saying –

    “Fletcher was interested in the two big Auckland roading projects announced today.

    “It’s in our sweet spot,” he said of Penlink north of the city and Mill Rd in south Auckland.

    “We do big road infrastructure projects and we have Higgins which is a roading specialist, so we had a large amount of capacity.”

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12039869

    The end of the media conference video says the company’s Buildings and Interior Divisions will complete existing projects but won’t be bidding for new projects in the foreseeable future.

    • Ad 5.1

      Yes it was good to hear a bit of life left in the old dog.
      The industry needs to stay competitive; it needs Fletchers to be in there keeping each other major player sharp.

      But when they first announced they were in trouble this year, they quickly pulled out of AMETI, then City Rail Link C3, and then pulled out of a bunch of other live bids, then didn’t even get onto the main AT contractor panel, it really did look like they were no longer in the big game.

      Even in the Americas Cup job a couple of months ago with Auckland Council they were wiped out fast.

      But when they took over Higgins in 2016 they got some good business development people. Regrettably Higgins have done roading and motorway jobs, and honestly after today the motorway budget is fucked.

      Fletcher are good for the remaining medium-scale road operations and safety improvement jobs. And through Brian Perry Civil they will have a shot at some Watercare jobs. But so far that’s their ambit. They are retreating to New Zealand and Australia, a long, long way up from where they were.

  6. Adrian 6

    After Fletchers are sued for a billion bucks for Chch maybe the Govt just takes whatever is left of one of the worst run companies in the country and nek minit there’s our new MOW. Now that’s shadenfrude .
    Saw the smug CEO on the news tonight, now there’s a dodgy looking Bugger if I ever saw one.

  7. Jenny 7

    Weird that the Mill Road motorway gets half a $billion, when there is no bus service from Papakura down this route, and Clevedon commuters, who also use this route, don’t even have a bus service at all. Putting public transport on this route would be a far cheaper and sustainable way of relieving traffic congestion during rush hour on Mill Road than turning it into a motorway.

    The new mill road motorway which will connect with the Southern motorway at Wiri has the potential to deliver thousands of more cars to the Southern motorway at a junction that barely moves now, this is a recipe for gridlok.

    This is completely crazy.

    Just because Judith Collins (with the aid of the developers, who hope to make a killing out of the opening up of the Greenfield sites around Papakura), ran a petition calling on the government to build this boondoggle?

    Judith Collins has even told locals that she wants this new motorway to continue straight through the heart of Papakura to join the Southern at Drury. That this will bowl hundreds of low cost housing is no matter. They are all renters they can move, she said. And Twyford goes along with this?

    • Molly 7.1

      I was wondering about the Mill Road connection too Jenny.

      The fairly newly built Manukau overpass/junction has been a disaster from the word go, and the design seems to have come from people that would never use it. I have seen no improvement in the traffic flow at all.

      The landbankers seem to have a hefty say out this way, and none of them like public transport.

    • Ad 7.2

      I have a sneaking suspicion that the Minister will require them to significantly down-scope it. I also see a fair bit of delay as the job shifts from AT to NZTA.

      The big one to watch for is the revival of the big East-West expressway, There’s still quite an allocation set aside for that. The debate will come back to whether sufficient gains can be made rebuilding Neilson Street for the freight fleet. I strongly prefer Neilson Street because East-West simply ruins much of the remaining connection between Onehunga and the foreshore – such as it is.

  8. cleangreen 8

    Goodbye to climate change emission targets; – and the much muted “zero carbon” idea!!!

    More roads for trucks and cars simply put.

    Labour are simply just another “populist” Government ‘driven by polls’.

    There should have been a ‘real switch to rail freight and passenger services country wide beginning in Auckland here as a message as to where we are headed as is happening around the world!!!!

    And not just continuing to carry on building just more roads for trucks and cars.

    So much for Jacinda’s “climate change is her generation nuclear moment.”

    Labour in their very first term between 1936- 42 built the Gisborne rail and now it was closed under National (due to them dropping any rail maintenance) Labour still has not advanced the regional rail freight and passenger services as they promised in 2016 to Gisborne that they would restore the gisborne rail again “when next in Government”

    http://gisborneherald.co.nz/localnews/2535803-135/three-parties-say-fix-rail

    • crashcart 8.1

      Agree CG. I drive from Glenfield to Devonport each day. Takes just over 30 mins in the morning and 45 to an hour home in the afternoons. I would love to take public transport and just relax maybe even make a start on work emails on the way. Unfortunately I would have to take at least 3 busses and leave far earlier getting home far later to make that journey. It would cost more than twice as much per week.

      Serious priority needs to be given to providing cheap reliable public transport across all Auckland or we will forever be confined to our cars.

      • indiana 8.1.1

        Anyone that has ever worked in a network planning role, you will understand that “providing cheap reliable public transport across all Auckland” is a myth. In your example, it just show how inefficient public transport is in a wide metropolitan area can be – the fact that you would need to make 6 connections for a return journey and the cost.

      • Stunned Mullet 8.1.2

        Is cycling an option ? Great cycling routes in place down to Devonport now.

      • Anne 8.1.3

        So crashcart, you’re one of the people who clog up our Devonport isthmus roads every morning and night and we locals can’t even get out of our driveways. 😉 I tell a lie, they are courteous drivers who allow us in to be part of the twice daily gridlock we have to endure every day of the week and all weekend!

    • Ad 8.2

      This is the Auckland package not the Napier-Gisborne package.

      And this package will do more for rail in the Auckland region than anyone has done in a century.

  9. Anon 9

    Ok but public transport in christchurch is fucked, and Labour haven’t restored ecan to a democratic regional government nor have they restored public transport funding cut by National.

    • Ad 9.1

      The announcement had nothing to do at all with Christchurch.
      Focus.

      • Anon 9.1.1

        Exactly. NZTAs fairbox requirements affect all regions and makes even bus travel unaffordable to run. Labour want to spend billions on trains and let bus service further degrade – urgh.

  10. Tracey 10

    At last something the whole parliament will agree on. Whodathunkit?

  11. Paul Campbell 11

    I’m looking forwards to the announcement for the rest of the country, here in Dunedin we’re hoping to get rid of the traffic lights in the middle of the Southern motorway ….

  12. UncookedSelachimorpha 12

    While National are being disingenuous and don’t give a damn about the poor – they are factually correct when they say the petrol tax is mostly a tax on the poor.

    It is a flat consumption tax, like GST. The car Graeme Hart (with USD10.3b wealth) travels in probably uses a similar amount of fuel as that driven by a person going to work at MacDonalds for poverty wages.

    With 60% of NZ’s wealth owned by just 10% of the population, this entire project could be funded without any taxes on 90% of the population at all – while still leaving the top 10% very wealthy.

    Neoliberal Labour – talking about inequality but not doing anything very concrete about it.

    • The Chairman 12.1

      “With 60% of NZ’s wealth owned by just 10% of the population, this entire project could be funded without any taxes on 90% of the population at all – while still leaving the top 10% very wealthy.”

      Indeed, UncookedSelachimorpha

      Placing more fiscal burden on the poor is counterproductive to addressing poverty and inequality.

      It’s also something Labour’s tax working group need to keep in mind. Taxing the top 10% will be a far easier sell come election time.

  13. Rob 13

    Advantage, lets get this correct.

    Fletcher Building are seriously in the business of infrastructure development with their Higgins business. What they have exited out of is vertical building projects which are not roads or bus lanes or electric light rail. But you know that right?

    You were going quite well till that point.

    • Ad 13.1

      What I know is a whole bunch more about Fletchers and infrastructure in Auckland than you do.

      You need to dig deeper than the ce’s comments.

  14. Rob 14

    Pfffft , geez you are very quick on the assumptions.

    Where has Fletchers ever stated that they were not entering into further infrastructure projects. Vertical building projects, convention centres, fixed price design & build projects all stopped, but not infrastructure. Its a real shame as many of us cut our teeth at Fletchers, but you know that right.

    So as you claim to be a great expert on construction and infrasture I am sure you will be telling Ken L at Higgins that he wont be tendering on any of these infrastructure projects. I am sure that would be news to him.

  15. savenz 15

    I wish I could get more excited about our public transport being potentially fixed. But because it seems to have the same people in charge with the same ideologies of taking public money and transferring it to the public sector, and the same stupid decisions, intentional complexity and lack of practicality, so I can’t.

    Just some information about PPP’s. They don’t work and are death, they cost more, they are unwieldy, the risk transfer doesn’t work because when the private sector screw up and goes bankrupt, the public still has to use the roads and public transport, so there is no risk transfer.

    Essentially we are paying more hard earned money so that companies like Fletchers and Finance companies, many already on the ropes or earning excessive profits being shipped offshore, can wallow in more public funds, import more low wage people and go as slow as possible before ultimately screwing up and then the rate/tax payers pick up the bill and contribute to more inequality and lack of working public assets.

    If you want something done, do it yourself and if you can’t do it yourself, then you should not be in the job!

    • savenz 15.1

      “UK PFI debt now stands at over £300bn for projects with an original capital cost of £55bn”

      https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/aug/30/pfi-britain-hospital-trust-debt-burden-tax

      “Conservatively estimated, the trusts appear to be paying a risk premium of about 30% of the total construction costs, just to get the hospitals built on time and to budget, a sum that considerably exceeds the evidence about past cost overruns.”

      For roads:

      This report: https://image.guim.co.uk/sys-files/Society/documents/2004/11/24/PFI.pdf

      found that PPP “contracts are considerably more expensive than the cost of conventional procurement”, resulting in higher returns for the companies running the PPP’s compared to their industry peers.

      While hard to compare because of the opaque nature of many contracts and large amounts of subcontracting out, it looked like the actual cost of capital of the PPP’s was 11% compared to Treasure borrowing of 4.5% i.e. 6.5% higher. This is supposed to represent the cost of risk transfer but in practice there was no risk transfer so it’s money for nothing.

      “In conclusion, the road projects appear to be costing more than expected as reflected in net present costs that are higher than those identified by the Highways Agency (Haynes and Roden 1999), owing to rising traffic and contract changes. It is, however, impossible to know at this point whether or not VFM (value for money) has been or is indeed likely to be achieved because the expensive element of the service contract relates to maintenance that generally will not be required for many years.”

      Overall, for both roads and hospitals they concluded there was no risk transfer and not value for money.

      “The net result of all this is that while risk transfer is the central element in justifying VFM and thus PFI, our analysis shows that risk does not appear to have been transferred to the party best able to manage it.

      Indeed, rather than transferring risk to the private sector, in the case of roads DBFO has created additional costs and risks to the public agency, and to the public sector as a whole, through tax concessions that must increase costs to the taxpayer and/or reduce service provision. In the case of hospitals, PFI has generated extra costs to hospital users, both staff and patients, and to the Treasury through the leakage of the capital charge element in the NHS budget. In both roads and hospitals these costs and risks are neither transparent nor quantifiable.

      This means that it is impossible to demonstrate whether or not VFM has been, or indeed can be, achieved in these or any other projects.

      While the Government’s case rests upon value for money, including the cost of transferring risk, our research suggests that PFI may lead to a loss of benefits in kind and a redistribution of income, from the public to the corporate sector.

      It has boosted the construction industry, many of whose PFI subsidiaries are now the most profitable parts of their enterprises, and led to a significant expansion of the facilities management sector.

      But the main beneficiaries are likely to be the financial institutions whose loans are effectively underwritten by the taxpayers, as evidenced by the renegotiation of the Royal Armouries PFI (NAO 2001a).”

  16. savenz 16

    Nobody can borrow money cheaper than the government and so it any scheme relies on borrowing off financial markets aka the private sector then you are already wasting money and adding to complexity…. it’s margins on margins… and when you are talking billions off the backs of people of probably on less than $30p/h (since poorer people are more likely to live further out and therefore need to drive more, the richer people will be more centrally located to their work) to be take as profits for the construction and finance industries, that’s where I’m not sold.

    And of course the people further out seem to be getting less public transport, than those who live closer to the centre…

    So good news they have a transport plan, bad news is that they are relying on the private sector which is why they need so much extra money for their profits and there is plenty of evidence around in the UK and NZ on why that does not work aka leaky buildings and the housing market in general, finance sector and the massive bail outs etc.

  17. Philg 17

    Migrants are swamping Auckland, boosting property values and the economy, and locals who can are leaving. This is not the brighter future.

    • savenz 17.1

      I agree too much immigration and work permits being handed out like candy, as well as not adjusting for the change of asset ownership in the last decade and thinking tourism is such a boom for everyone (those were the days when locals owned and worked in the hotels so benefited from tourism, not any more, they are subsidising other people’s businesses by paying for the upgrades needed for the roads and wastewater and increased pollution and diseases like Kauri die back).

      It is the government’s fault through and through with by far the majority of blame going to National for handing out the work permits, bringing in low waged low skilled people and allowing it to get out of control and then trying to cover it up and make other people pay for it.

      I’m starting to wonder if we are going to end up like the Philippines in the next decade, a poor low waged country where it’s people go overseas to escape the low wages, a huge focus on overseas trade and currently being run by a crazy right winger whose getting the military to go around and assassinate ‘drug dealers’ for the ‘war on crime’. (Because it was not the overpopulation, lack of jobs and having outward migration of skilled people that led to the drug issues.)

      At least under Helen, they at least acknowledged the ‘brain drain’, under National that issue, has completely disappeared because who needs them, when there a truck full of dirt to transport or a coffee to be made by minimum waged, zero hour contract type workers who are no longer students but actually expected to survive on that type of work.

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

  • EV road user charges bill passes
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April.  “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    21 hours ago
  • Bill targets illegal, unregulated fishing in international waters
    New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    22 hours ago
  • Reserve Bank appointments
    Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates.  Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    23 hours ago
  • Stronger protections for apartment owners
    Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Travel focused on traditional partners and Middle East
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend.    “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says.   Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Keep safe on our roads this Easter
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Cost of living support for over 1.4 million Kiwis
    About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Tenancy reviews for social housing restart
    Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary plan halted
    The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Cutting all that dam red tape
    Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track.  “Dam safety regulations ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Drought support extended to parts of North Island
    The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Passage of major tax bill welcomed
    The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis.  “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Lifting economy through science, tertiary sectors
    Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Government announces Budget priorities
    The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says.  The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Government to consider accommodation solution
    The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Government approves extension to Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care
    Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says.                                         “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • $18m boost for Kiwis travelling to health treatment
    The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says.   “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • PM’s Prizes for Space to showcase sector’s talent
    The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Concerns conveyed to China over cyber activity
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government.     “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry
    Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function.  The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Brynderwyns open for Easter
    State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Speech to the Infrastructure Funding & Financing Conference
    Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Parliamentary network breached by the PRC
    New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • NZ to provide support for Solomon Islands election
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • NZ-EU FTA gains Royal Assent for 1 May entry to force
    The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union.    “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • COVID-19 inquiry attracts 11,000 submissions
    Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says.  “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Families to receive up to $75 a week help with ECE fees
    Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Unlocking a sustainable, low-emissions future
    A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says.  “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Chief of Army thanked for his service
    Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders
    25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Government commits nearly $3 million for period products in schools
    Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Speech – Making it easier to build.
    Good morning, it’s great to be here.   First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning.  I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Pacific youth to shine from boost to Polyfest
    Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • 2024 Ngarimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion Memorial Scholarships announced
    ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago
  • Speech to Breast Cancer Foundation – Insights Conference
    Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Kiwi research soars to International Space Station
    New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Speech to the New Zealand Planning Institute
    Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Support for Northland emergency response centre
    The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed.  “Northland has faced a number ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Celebrating 20 years of Whakaata Māori
    New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago
  • Some commercial fishery catch limits increased
    Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

Page generated in The Standard by Wordpress at 2024-03-29T01:31:17+00:00