Getting the City Rail Link approved may be John Key's lasting Auckland legacy
English was, of course, the Finance Minister and Joyce the Minister for Economic Development at the time.
The then National Government's priority, expressed publicly, was to pay off debt. That is certainly a hard sell when embarking on a tunnel dig costing multiple billions of dollars.
But Key, then Transport Minister Simon Bridges and the Super City's first Mayor, Len Brown, 'wore down' the naysayers to announce a commitment to funding the project in 2016.
The CRL has been Auckland's missing link in its rail network for decades, and digging under the rapidly growing city was first suggested a century ago.
A project of its size had never been undertaken in New Zealand before, and Joyce had warned against fans of the CRL to avoid 'wishful thinking'.
We don't have to look far to see how similar projects have greatly benefited cities.
Sydney has always invested in its public transport infrastructure, the latest being the enormously popular high-speed metro lines. Sydney has a population three times that of Auckland, but it has less congestion.
Auckland's traffic congestion is projected to cost us $2.6 billion a year by 2026. This must certainly have been a huge factor in Key and his allies wanting to start construction as soon as possible. We must build to grow, a belief future Governments should continue to be reminded of.
The opening of the City Rail Link next year is expected to be transformative, particularly for Auckland's midtown, which has in recent years gone through a period of decay.
Key said: 'I guarantee you, in five years people will forget all about the cost and the problems of getting it built and say, 'Thank God we've got it.''
Getting the project over the line may well be his lasting legacy in the City of Sails.
Sign up to the Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
3 days ago
- RNZ News
Deficit budget announced in Tonga; largest ever spend
St George Government Building, Nuku'alofa CBD Photo: Matangi Tonga Tonga's 'Aisake Eke Government has produced its first budget, pumping up spending by more than 10 percent compared with last year. It has some key elements that differ from previous years, such as an assistance boost for some private sector businesses. Don Wiseman spoke with RNZ Pacific's correspondent, Kalafi Moala, and began by asking where the additional money is going. KALAFI MOALA: One of the key things that this government, when they came into being, was declaring and proclaiming changes that they were going to make, compared with, say, the previous government. And one of the things that you've been saying was that they're going to, probably for the first time in Tonga history, give money to the private sector. They've been given the message of private sector development, it is the pathway to economic development, to the future and so on. So in this budget, one of the specific things they've done is assigned quite a bit to private sector development. ...But the whole budget of 992 million plus [pa'anga] - it's the biggest in Tonga's history, more than last year's budget. And also it's a deficit budget. I think, if I can remember this, about 28 million [pa'anga] in deficit. But then the government have said that they are going to pay for this deficit by issuing bonds, public bonds, so I guess they've got it all worked out. DON WISEMAN: Public bonds - has Tonga issued bonds before? KM: I can't recall when, but yeah, in the last, say, 10 years or so, they've done that. DW: In terms of this money going to the private sector. There are no details at all? KM: No details other than the fact that they think that fisheries and agriculture is going to be a major focus, particularly on businesses that have already started. For example, things like marketing and setting up pack houses for export. This is the kind of things that they think government is going to help in the development of the private sector. DW: That essentially is the only difference from the previous government, despite what they had said about the failures of the previous government. KM: That's right. The other thing too, there has been quite a bit of talk this year about kava - kava being a product that Tonga wants to focus on exporting. I mean, you've got this ban out of Fiji, out of Vanuatu, quite successfully. And so Tonga is entering the market. And this is another issue, another thing that they're going to help in the private sector development. DW: We don't know precisely what they might do in terms of that trade? KM: No. But you see, one of the problems that Tonga has been known for over the years is that Tonga has talked about marketing certain products. You remember the days when we were marketing squash, sending to Japan, and to China, and then we ran out, because the complaint has been that Tonga was not able to produce enough for the market. And we've seen that happening to cassava, we've seen it happening to other products, and there's hope that this is not the kind of thing that will happen to kava, that there's an excitement about exporting kava. People are starting to plant kava now, and there's a lot of talk about it. But then are we going to be able to stay and produce enough for the market? DW: In terms of education, subsidised loans will be available for non-government schools. What have they got in mind here? KM: Well, you see, it's been a normal thing that government's contribution to non-government schools - it's 700 [pa'anga] per head for every student. In other words, they're paying all non-government schools 700 per head per year. And this has been going on up to the last government. So they are wanting to continue this process, but to make sure that it's done and to follow up to make sure that the money goes... not just to the schools to spend on just projects that may not be necessary, but the focus on paying teachers. Because the complaint has been that a lot of teachers of non-government schools are underpaid, and some of them are leaving for greener pastures overseas, and so there's a shortage of teachers in non-government schools. So, yes, they're pledging that they're going to continue to do that. Photo: ppart/123RF DW: Work is going to go into the nursing school. KM: Yes, there's a lot of planning going with that. You know, Tonga now, of course, has what we call the Tonga National University, and so all training, tertiary-type training, is now being under the Tonga National University - teachers training, nursing training, training of seamen, that kind of thing. And so, yeah, there's a lot of funding that will go to that as well. DW: And a new hospital - I presume it's a new hospital, on Vava'u. KM: That comes under what they call the development budget. You have the recurrent budget, of course, which is part of the budget that goes into carrying the expenses, the current expenses of government. And then you've got the development budget, which goes to projects. And much of the development budget, of course, comes from aid. It goes into building wharfs and hospitals and things like that. And yeah, there's been a lot of calls for Vava'u - that they need to upgrade healthcare in Vava'u - so the hospital is a major focus.
Newsroom
3 days ago
- Newsroom
NZME declares peace, Stuff and TradeMe declare war
The battle to control NZ Herald owner NZME ended on Tuesday with shareholders endorsing a peace deal – just as major rivals Stuff and TradeMe joined forces to form an audacious new competitor. NZME shareholders voted former National cabinet minister Steven Joyce onto its board, replacing outgoing chair Barbara Chapman, and approved corporate raider Jim Grenon as another new face. Incumbent director Sussan Turner won re-election and re-joined two continuing, existing directors. By agreement Joyce will be made chair, and a sixth director, digital commerce expert Bowen Pan will be appointed. The votes ended three months of a power struggle, initiated by Canadian-NZ private equity investor Grenon for what he promised to be better financial results and improved journalism at NZME's New Zealand Herald site and newspaper. Grenon's campaign started by seeking appointment of himself plus three more of his nominees and the removal of all incumbents. But it ends with his sole accession to the board, three incumbents continuing, and Joyce as a peacemaking chair. Chapman and director David Gibson were the fall guys. Grenon is now a 13 percent shareholder but his first push for control has been partly stymied. Curiously, he won the fewest votes for his appointment (86 percent) and most against (14 percent) of the four resolutions put to the meeting. Joyce won the backing of 93 percent of votes cast. The new board members received a sobering trading update from chief executive Michael Boggs at the annual shareholders meeting. Boggs' forecast for the balance of NZME's financial year was subdued, compared with relatively upbeat words as late as a results briefing in February, when he confirmed a 2024 net profit of $12m but overall loss, after write-downs on the value of newspapers, of -$16m. 'Unfortunately, the market remains volatile and economic commentators have softened their outlook from what was expected earlier in the year.' Later, he noted: 'The market is not improving as much as we originally expected – it remains volatile and therefore we are taking a cautious yet optimistic approach.' The business had done better in the first four months this year than last and remained 'well placed' to deliver improved full year results, but he emphasised downturns in the latest business and consumer confidence surveys. He said NZME had made the equivalent of $12m in annualised savings already this year, including $4m saved from a round of 30 redundancies in its editorial departments. Boggs noted a delay expected in a recovery in house prices – 'again, later than predicted' – which could be crucial to forecasts for NZME's OneRoof real estate listings portal. In February, NZME announced a strategic review of OneRoof, possibly seeking investment, a part sale or separation in advance of a market listing. It suggested shareholders would be updated at this annual meeting, but outgoing chair Chapman said an update would now be made at the half-year results in August. The silence on the future of OneRoof spoke particularly loudly on Tuesday because the number one property site in the market, TradeMe, chose that very morning to announce it had bought half of Stuff Digital, the nation's biggest news site. As OneRoof has used its partnership to promote housing and real estate content and link to its homes for sale, TradeMe will now take over Stuff's property section and leverage what is bound to be more real estate content on that site. The deal, which is subject to standard conditions being met, will therefore pit the Herald-One Roof combo against Stuff-TradeMe. The latter partnership starts as number one in each of its component online markets. TradeMe's investment will also be a big boost to Stuff, which while profitable according to owner Sinead Boucher, would have been pressured over the past two years in the same vein as declining print and digital ad revenues suffered by NZME. Stuff also took on the added cost of producing 3News nightly for Warner Bros Discovery following Newshub's demise – a multimillion dollar outlay likely to have sustained reduced initially forecast margins, possibly into the red. The sum paid by TradeMe has not been disclosed and both businesses are private companies. But for Boucher and Stuff a substantial inflow of capital right now will greatly improve prospects for the company she bought from Nine Entertainment five years ago for $1. 'This is the first time since the management buyout of Stuff five years ago that I have accepted an equity partner into the business,' she said. 'It was important to me that we found the right partner at the right time in our growth strategy, protecting our fiercely independent media business which is loved and trusted by millions of New Zealanders.' The Stuff mastheads division, covering its newspapers, subscriber news sites The Post, The Press and Waikato Times, plus the Neighbourly and Events businesses, remain fully owned by Boucher. For NZME, its rivals' marriage will not have been a surprise, having been publicly mooted since at least March. But it will be no less challenging, particularly if the NZME strategic review being conducted by Jarden recommends seeking separation and outside investment. The review's objective of realising OneRoof's 'full potential' just got harder. TradeMe chief executive Anders Skoe said the Stuff deal would enable house vendors and agents 'reach an even wider pool of prospective buyers' and 'generate the highest quality property market insights.' Stuff has an audience of 2.3m unique readers a month, 400,000 higher than in the Nielsen online ratings for April, and One Roof, according to the Herald, trailed TradeMe by, 32,000 – 747,000 to 779,000. While Chapman's final speech as chair saluted OneRoof for going 'from strength to strength, delivering significant year-on-year growth', at least one new board member has not always been so convinced. New NZME board member Jim Grenon. Photo: NZME presentation New director Grenon, in a war of words conducted by letter during his contest for board places, threw doubt on OneRoof's actual success over the past four years, saying it had achieved just 40 percent of its targets. In a letter from March 6, Grenon said OneRoof 'missed the most relevant ebitda margin target by a significant degree' as late as the 2024 financial year. 'OneRoof's 2024 financial performance is a recent example of management over promising and ebitda confusion,' he noted, coming in at just half what he calculated should have been $4.8m in operating profit. He questioned, too, how costs for OneRoof had been allocated in NZME's books. He joins the board now with the main competitors gearing up to push back against OneRoof. The new NZME board is also expected to create an editorial advisory board, with blogger and lawyer Phillip Crump nominated as its first member and possible chair, to help improve the Herald's journalism. Grenon and Crump are both of the centre right, Crump a favoured appointee by the coalition Government to both the NZ on Air board and Waitangi Tribunal.
NZ Herald
4 days ago
- NZ Herald
Media Insider: NZME shareholder meeting - Steven Joyce set to become chair, Jim Grenon to join board; what to expect at today's meeting
All eyes will then be on the new-look board's first strategic moves, including the future direction of property portal OneRoof; whether the company wants to resurrect talks with Stuff to buy its paywalled websites, including The Post and The Press; and the establishment of an NZME editorial board 'to assist and advise the editorial team'. Joyce will - subject to shareholders confirming him and Grenon as new directors, as expected - take the reins as chair from Barbara Chapman, who will retire at the end of the ASM. NZME owns the NZ Herald, NewstalkZB, BusinessDesk and OneRoof; inset: NZME chair Barbara Chapman and shareholder Jim Grenon. Chapman, a former chief executive of ASB, has been subject to much of the wrath of some agitating shareholders over the past several months. Grenon, who now holds 13% of the company, is today expected to meet, for the first time, the NZME executives who have felt the brunt of his criticisms of the company over the past three months. He has highlighted concerns over the financial performance and operation of the company. 'It is concern about operational aspects of NZME that is driving this change,' he told the Herald in a statement in March. 'The editorial content is very much a side issue, but the quality of the journalism does impact everything else in the business and is also the board's ultimate responsibility. 'The new board intends to improve on the journalism, with an emphasis on factual accuracy, less selling of the writer's opinion and appealing to a wider political spectrum.' Influential major shareholder Roger Colman will also be at the ASM today, from Australia, as will be minor shareholder and former National Party leader Don Brash, from Tauranga. The meeting starts at 2pm. 'Best media board in Australasia' Colman said yesterday the new-look board would be the best media board in Australasia, citing the experience of the likes of Joyce, Horrocks, Turner and Pan. He said it was important to thank Grenon and NZME's biggest shareholder, Australian fund Spheria Asset Management, without whom the board changes would not have happened as quickly. Former National Party Cabinet Minister Steven Joyce. Photo / Nick Reed Now, he is keen to ensure the directors work in unison. 'It is important that these board members' relationship with Jim, and Jim's relationship with existing board members, is up to scratch. 'Everybody's on good behaviour - it's a question of how this is going to work, right?' NZME announced in March that Jarden was undertaking a strategic review of its property platform OneRoof. The media firm, which also owns the NZ Herald, Newstalk ZB, BusinessDesk and a suite of music stations and regional news titles, said it had launched the review to accelerate OneRoof's growth and realise its 'full potential in delivering value for shareholders'. Opportunities included the potential separation of OneRoof 'to enable raising external capital, either public or private, to surface its value'; 'potential pathways to value recognition and monetisation'; consolidation opportunities; and 'additional resourcing and extra capacity opportunities'. 'A progress update on this independent review will be provided as part of NZME's half-year results later in the year.' Editorial board NZME has already announced an editorial board will be established. Lawyer, blogger and former ZB Plus editor Philip Crump, who had originally been touted as one of Grenon's board directors, will be a member of the board. The scope of the board, including exactly how it will operate, and other members, have yet to be announced. Former National Party leader Don Brash. Photo / George Novak Meanwhile, Brash, whose group Hobson's Pledge had an advocacy advertisement turned down by NZME last year, told the Herald on Monday that he was planning to attend today's meeting. 'Whether I ask questions, I guess depends a bit on how the AGM evolves. 'I mean, clearly I'm pleased with the changes which have been announced. I've been subscribing to the Herald for a long, long time, and we were very disappointed - I was very disappointed personally - by the fact that we had some difficulty getting some advocacy ads run in the Herald. 'We thought they were legal and accurate. I'm hopeful that the change will make them more open to running advocacy ads as long as there's no legal problem.' He said he was aware NZME had changed its policy, so that advocacy ads could run in future inside the newspaper, rather than on the front page or 'wrapping' the newspaper. 'The unwillingness to carry ads on the front page always amuses me. You're happy to carry ads for an Australian appliance company day after day.' He said he may well reinforce the point that advocacy ads should be permitted. 'It is important that voices can be heard as long as they are in fact legal. 'We don't want anything obviously illegal or inappropriate but I don't think anything Hobson's Pledge has said or is likely to say will be breaking the law.' Brash said he was intending to book a full-page advocacy ad in the Weekend Herald next Saturday - it was not connected to Hobson's Pledge and would be announced later in the week. A newspaper 'for everybody' Amplifying Brash's comments, Colman said a newspaper had to be 'for everybody'. 'There's a pendulum - it swings left to right at various elections all the time. Sometimes the conservatives are in power, sometimes the progressives are in power. The paper's got to cover all bases.' Roger Colman addresses the NZME shareholders meeting in 2024. Photo / Sylvie Whinray This was especially important, he said, given that NZME still employed a substantial percentage of journalists, especially in the wake of the closure of Newshub and other industry cutbacks. He estimated NZME had doubled its percentage of the overall number of New Zealand journalists as a result of the cutbacks at other newsrooms. In the normal course of events, media wouldn't take a lot of interest in NZME's annual shareholder meeting. However, there is still considerable interest in what unfolds today, and NZME expects to accommodate at least half a dozen reporters as well as cameras at the ASM. Meanwhile, Brash believed Joyce would make a good chair. The pair had worked together when Brash was leader of the National Party, and Joyce was in leadership roles for the party, including as general manager and election campaign director. 'He wasn't at that point in parliament, but he was a very effective executive director of the National Party, and we worked together very well,' said Brash. 'I had left Parliament before he came in [as an MP] in 2008. I left in 2007 so we didn't actually serve in the Parliament together, but my impression is he was a very competent minister.' Brash has bought 1000 shares in NZME. This allows him to attend the ASM. 'As a shareholder, I hope he runs the company well. I'm a very modest shareholder, I don't have any particularly strong views about his chairmanship. I'm sure he will do a good job - he's a very competent guy, and of course, he's been in the media himself prior to going to politics. 'In a sense, the developments that have taken place in the last few weeks may make it less important for me to make a public statement. 'I'm pleased with what's happened, and if I say anything at all, it will be in support of what's happened.' Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand's most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME including Managing Editor, NZ Herald Editor and Herald on Sunday Editor and has a small shareholding in NZME. Watch Media Insider - The Podcast on YouTube, or listen to it on iHeartRadio, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
