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Andrew Dickens: Tell Us The Whole Truth When You Come Up With A Big Idea

Publish Date
Fri, 4 Oct 2019, 12:22PM
Major study says Ports of Auckland should close. Photo /NZ Herald

Andrew Dickens: Tell Us The Whole Truth When You Come Up With A Big Idea

Publish Date
Fri, 4 Oct 2019, 12:22PM

So a so called high powered group has come out with their suggestions for port reform.

It’s an extremely important thing to think about because the 3 ports involved are the major conduit for our stuff going abroad to earn money and for bringing in other stuff we need.  And the way they work together is part of a logistical exercise called the supply chain which is a complex and massive beast that affects all New Zealanders and our economy.  It’s not just an idea to pretty up Auckland’s waterfront

The second interim report of the Government's Upper North Island Port Strategy recommends closing the used-car and container-port operations in Auckland's CBD. Developing Northport at Marsden Point as a modern, world-class, deep-water alternative and expanding the Port of Tauranga as planned.

Now this is actually a good idea.  Matthew Hooten says that if Jacinda Ardern can get this over the line it is a true transformational idea that will future proof our exports for years to come.

But the way this port argues the obvious is disingenuous to me and the reason is because it appears to be written from Northports point of view and not with the nationwide interest.  This would be no surprise because Shane Jones and Winston Peters and New Zealand First have been driving the discussion.  They’ve also got their Far North mate Wayne Brown to chair it.

The reason I say it’s disingenuous is because it wildly understates the cost of the operation to the nation.

The report details a number of options and the costs vary between 10 and 14 billion dollars. That’s the cost to the various port companies and not the actual cost of such a project.

If cars and containers moved to Northport you’ve got to get them to the rest of the country.  As Wayne Brown said that would mean 4 laning the state highway to Whangarei in the first case and then improving the rail link.

Well there’s 83 kilometres of road to build between Whangarei and Wellsford and 4 years ago a back of the envelope calculation said that would cost 2 billion dollars.  You could double or even triple that.  What’s even more concerning is that all these trucks with cars and containers would need to cross the Auckland harbour some way which means either a new bridge or congestion out west. 

Speaking of congestion once the 4 lanes were in they’d be almost immediately full of trucks.  The rail link is imperative.  At the moment it’s just a single line in dodgy condition.  A single line means trains either going up or down but not both ways all the time.  You’d have to fix the track up and then double track it.  But to make it future proof I’d suggest you’d need at least 4 tracks. That cost will make the City Rail Link look like chickenfeed

And then when trains full of containers and trucks hit Auckland they have to share the tracks with passenger trains so actually you’d have to build a dedicated freight network through the city. See the picture I’m painting?

So don’t get me wrong.  This is a good idea.  But it’s got a lot more implications than this report alludes to.  It won’t happen in 10 years.  And if you think it’s going to cost 10 billion dollars, you’re dreaming.  I doubt there’d be much change out 50 billion or more.  And that money has to come from all taxpayers in the country. And that’s why I think this report is disingenuous.

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