Brian Rudman: Time to stop wringing hands over Ports of Auckland plans

COMMENT

It's headless chicken time in Auckland town. You can't move for politicians dashing about attacking the port company's plan to sell off surplus waterfront land.

But have they come up with a plan to stop it? Of course not. As so often happens in this dysfunctional town, all our leaders seem good for is wringing hands and wailing woe at us.

They claim their hands are tied. That Ports of Auckland is a private company and, as such, they can't instruct it to halt the sale.

But if they can't stop it, who can? Have they forgotten that the vast majority - 80 per cent - of port company shares are owned by the public through Infrastructure Auckland, the community-owned investment bank? If that's not a controlling interest, what is?

Can you imagine a Ron Brierley or a Rupert Murdoch in the same situation, sitting back and accepting such contrary behaviour from a board and management of a company they had an 80 per cent interest in?

Last Monday the media were invited to a port company softening-up session. It was all very depressing. Instead of railing against what's happening, Scott Milne, the chairman of Auckland City's waterfront working party, tried to gild the few crumbs the port company had tossed at his feet.

The public, we were told, was guaranteed, among a few other snippets, vehicular and pedestrian access to the area in perpetuity - something which, incidentally, had already been guaranteed a few months before.

But this time there was a catch. Auckland City had agreed to pick up the maintenance tab for the busy roadway and footpaths. But not the ownership. Oh dear.

As for Westhaven Marina, the harbourside jewel that's about to be hocked off, Mr Milne seems resigned to the fact that if Aucklanders want it retained in public ownership, then Auckland City ratepayers will have to buy it.

Personally, as an Auckland City ratepayer, I object to the concept of having to rebuy something I already own.

I also object to Auckland City ratepayers once again being asked to pay for saving what is a treasure of the whole region.

With tender documents about to go out, time is short. The first imperative is to force the port company into halting the sale process.

As the politicians, both local and national, are paralysed by the fact that 20 per cent of the shares are in private ownership, the obvious way around this obstacle seems to be to buy out the private owners and return the company to full public ownership.

That done, we the people can then tell our port company what we want done with the harbourside land it says is now surplus to its operational requirements.

Restoring full public ownership would give Aucklanders the chance not only to save the marina, but also to plan the development of the waterfront strip from Pt Erin around through the tank farm to Mechanics Bay.

It would also put a halt for all time to the threat of gated residential ghettos blighting Auckland's front door.

Where would the money come from? That's the simple bit. By selling some of the Auckland City's airport shares.

The word from Auckland City is it plans to fund its tender bid for Westhaven by the sale of surplus airport shares, so the concept is not alien. My idea just involves selling a few more.

When I last checked, Ports of Auckland shares were selling for $7.80. That makes the 21.2 million in private hands worth around $165.4 million. With 39 million airport shares, worth $6.97 apiece, languishing in Auckland City's piggy-bank, that makes $271.8 million available to fund the transaction, which by my reckoning is more than enough.

For all I care, once the vital harbourside land is parcelled off and securely back in public ownership - and I'm thinking the tank farm reclamation between Westhaven and the Viaduct Harbour as well - the 20 per cent of ports shares can go back on the market.

Of course Auckland City's generous purchase would require reciprocal support from other local and national politicians.

There would have to be agreement that preserving the disputed land for the recreational pursuits of Aucklanders was a core business of the port company.

There might also have to be some alteration to the legislative covering Infrastructure Auckland.

Whatever the politicians do they had better move quickly. Local elections are just a few months away and Aucklanders are unlikely to re-elect politicians who stand by while their harbourside falls into foreign hands.