Auckland Transport comes under fire over train cancellations, the fourth option that could be added to 111 calls and rodent issues continue to plague Woolworths supermarkets in the latest NZ Herald headlines.
Video / NZ Herald / Getty
Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown has today formally requested that Auckland Transport immediately stop work on projects funded by the city’s regional fuel tax.
“Auckland Transport must not assume that RFT funding will simply be replaced by higher council rates or debt,” the mayor said.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced the axing of the fuel tax last week, saying it was not being used to fund projects that met the Government’s and Mayor Brown’s transport priorities.
“Since July 1, 2018, Aucklanders have faced an additional 11.5 cents per litre tax on fuel, over and above what the rest of the country pays, increasing the cost of living at a time when they can least afford it. Ending this tax is one way to reduce the price of fuel and ease some of the financial pressure facing households in our largest city,” he said.
Today, the mayor has called for AT to take immediate steps “to avoid incurring unfunded costs”.
He requested all work to be paused on programmes and projects that are earmarked to be partially RFT funded, where construction contracts had not yet been executed.
“This includes, for instance, the Great North Road cycleway, other projects in the safety and cycleway programme, as well as Glenvar and Lake Rd improvements. In some cases, programmes or projects may be able to be scaled back to avoid unfunded costs, and this may be the appropriate response,” a statement from the mayor today said.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Transport Minister Simeon Brown announce the Auckland regional fuel tax is to be scrapped. Photo / Sylvie Whinray
He also requested AT to review all RFT-funded projects where construction contracts have been executed to “assess options for, and costs of, deferring, cancelling or rescoping these projects”.
This includes stages two and three of the Eastern Busway.
“Auckland Transport should use this opportunity to reconsider how it can do things better, faster, and cheaper,” said the mayor.
While the RFT was being used to fund public transport and much-needed road upgrades, Mayor Brown has acknowledged concerns that some of the money had been earmarked for low-value cycleways and raised pedestrian crossings. These projects were made a priority under funding requirements set by the previous government, and many of these projects had already been defunded in the mayor’s budget proposal.
“I agree that we need to stop wasting money on things that Aucklanders don’t want or need. But the Government is also turning the tap off to fund the many things we do need.”
Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown. Photo / Dean Purcell
“All of this again highlights one of my core messages: Aucklanders need to have a greater say over the region’s transport programme. We are the only council in the country that cannot set its own transport plan, and that is just ridiculous. I am hopeful the Government will fix this,” he said
The request comes after the Auckland mayor forecasted “a bit of argy-bargy” with the Transport Minister after last week’s announcement.
Speaking to Newstalk ZB’s Heather du Plessis-Allan last Thursday, the mayor said there was enough money at the moment to finish the next stage of the Eastern Busway and fund the purchase of electric rail units for the City Rail Link (CRL), but that’s it.
“We want to decide what goes in Auckland. This is my city, not theirs,” he said.
Brown said the cancellation would leave a shortfall in transport funding for Auckland of $1.2 billion over the next four years.
The Auckland Mayor said he and Transport Minister Brown had “a bit of an argy-bargy” coming up because the Government want to build motorways in Auckland that “we don’t want”, such as an east-west motorway.
“If we’re going to have less money, then we’ll be doing less things and, if they’re going to fund things we don’t want, it’ll be at the expense of something else we might want.”
He acknowledged the National Party campaigned to repeal the fuel tax, but this decision will have unintended consequences unless the Government is prepared to foot the bill for upcoming transport projects.
Brown said he didn’t sign up for Auckland’s $5.5b CRL and added that it was $1b over cost, largely due to “incompetent Wellington people who signed a dumb contract”.
“We’ve got it now, we’ve got to finish that and that’s fair enough,” he said.
He added the Government wants an improved busway out to the Auckland Airport, but that’s “not going to happen” with the fuel tax money.
“The money’s got to come from somewhere, we can’t just magic it up,” he said.
He said he was happy to have a tough time working with the Government to cut out things that are not necessary, but said he wouldn’t let them tell him what motorways to build with money that could be used for other projects.
“A negotiation isn’t telling me what happens. I’m not a supine thing you walk over,” he said.
Benjamin Plummer is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He has worked for the Herald since 2022.
