John Tamihere’s latest policy announcement to sell the Ports of Auckland while excluding the trucking industry from driving in Auckland’s CBD during normal working hours, is a no-plan dictatorship statement says Mayoral Candidate Craig Lord.

“Once again the former Central Government MP is making bold announcements that are outside his purview and quite simply his dictatorship wants” Lord says.

“It’s not the first time and it won’t be the last, but what he needs to remember is that the Mayor is not the owner of a company that can make decisions without democracy present. It’s pretty arrogant to think that 20 other councillors and the public that they represent will simply be falling in line behind him and agreeing with those wants”.

Lord feels the policy is insulting to Aucklanders and the Councillors, and he also believes it to be irresponsible.

“Saying that he already has potential buyers, and he will be selling it via the Request for Proposal tender system again shows the dictatorial tendencies. Every current Councillor and potential Councillor should now be on notice to this”

“That point aside, in regards to the truck ban, he suddenly expects all the people involved with freight logistics to change their lives by working at night, so clearly he doesn’t care about all the families affected by that idea. Adding to that, night work and banning or taxing the trucking industry will have a detrimental effect on the end cost of products, it’s nonsensical”

Lord is also concerned that such a large announcement has no end plan, except for saying that the land could be developed for public use and real estate at the end of its lease.

“What if there is no new spot for the ports by then? Where is the new build funding coming from because moving to the Firth of Thames or Northland has an astronomical cost involved. Would the new port owners be paying for it or will the NZ taxpayer be stumping up just so some developers can have a waterfront of valuable land? There’s a lot of puffery talk but no substance”.

“What needs to be remembered is that a city the size of Auckland, with its continual growth rates, needs to maintain operations that can cope with its freight demands. Auckland is a port city for a reason. Interestingly, the ports already have a ‘30 year masterplan’ underway”.

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