For the second day in a row, Phil Twyford looks like he's given Parliament the wrong information

Wednesday, 30 October 2019

Does he stand by all his statements and policies?

For the second day in a row, beleaguered Transport Minister Phil Twyford appears to have given Parliament incorrect information, crucial documents leaked to Stuff reveal.

But instead of correcting the record as he did on Tuesday, Twyford is now sticking to his guns, denying he gave Parliament incorrect information.

The latest leak revolves around a NZTA assessment of a New Zealand Super Fund proposal to build Auckland's light rail. Last week Twyford told Parliament that NZTA 'didn't complete an assessment' of the NZ Super Fund's proposal to build the multibillion-dollar light rail project.

The existence of an assessment, denied by Twyford, is significant because NZTA's former board said it used the document to justify its dismissal of the Super Fund's plan.

Leaked documents obtained by Stuff show that the NZTA assessment was in fact complete enough to send to the NZ Super Fund for a response.

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* NZ Transport Agency to Phil Twyford: We should have done better**

A 2016 video by Auckland Transport shows the proposed route of light rail line to the airport, later taken over by NZTA.

On 26 November 2018, NZTA completed a document called 'Assessment of the Public Private (PPI) Model' which was shared with the Super Fund for its response on 30 November.

The Fund responded to NZTA on 6 December with a letter complaining that its proposal 'was not properly reflected or apparently understood' by NZTA.

The Super Fund then provides a point-by-point debunking of NZTA's analysis of its bid, concluding that NZTA's analysis was 'fundamentally flawed'.

Despite the documents appearing to show a completed assessment, Twyford is holding his ground.

'I stand by my statement in the House that NZTA did not complete an assessment of the NZ Infra proposal using standard Treasury methodology, as Chris Bishop asked,' Twyford said.

'Aucklanders are simply not interested in tit-for-tat squabbles between NZTA and NZ infra [The Super Fund and its Canadian partner], the project is too important for that, and they want the best proposal built. That's why the two options will now be independently assessed by the Ministry of Transport,' he said.

But a source with first-hand knowledge of the assessment contradicted Twyford's remarks.

Phil Twyford is overseeing the Government's promise to build light rail to the airport.

'NZTA did complete assessments of the NZ Infra proposal,' the source told Stuff.

The person said the assessment was completed using Treasury's 'Unsolicited Proposal (USP)' guidelines,

The person said that it was also assessed 'in terms of the proposal's ability to deliver the transport and land use outcomes requested by the minister in his letter to the NZTA, consistent with what was articulated in the ATAP agreement [Auckland Transport Alignment Project - an agreement between Auckland Council and Government over Auckland's transport projects] '.

On Wednesday NZ Infra stood by its criticisms of the NZTA assessment.

Phil Twyford has promised to update the Parliamentary record after supplying incorrect information in Question Time.

'NZ Infra considered the analysis of our proposal by NZTA to be inaccurate and the assessment process not fit for purpose. Subsequently, Government instructed the Ministry of Transport to take over the evaluation process, which we believe was the right decision and are working constructively to put forward a high quality and innovative proposal for fully-funded rapid transport light rail in Auckland,' a spokesman for NZ Infra told Stuff.

This news comes just a day after Twyford was forced to concede that he had given Parliament incorrect information about NZTA board appointments.

Twyford had been asked by National transport spokesman Chris Bishop whether he would 'stand by his statement that no-one on the New Zealand Transport Agency board asked to stay on?', to which he replied 'yes, I do'.

He had made similar remarks in September, telling Stuff that no-one on the board expressed a preference to stay on. Asked whether any board members asked or wanted to stay on, Twyford said on September 19 that, 'no, everyone had reached the end of their terms'.

But on Tuesday, Twyford was forced to concede that his recollection had failed him since he was first told asked about the appointments on 19 September. Twyford's spokeswoman said he had now 'remembered that he had asked Mark Darrow [a former board member] to stay on the board temporarily in the interests of continuity'.

'The minister will correct the answer in the House at the first opportunity'' the spokeswoman said.

Bishop said the leaked evidence was an 'extraordinary development'.

'Phil Twyford told Parliament that the NZTA didn't complete an assessment of the NZ Infra bid, that doesn't square with things he's previously said and the PM has said about the proposal,' Bishop said.

'It turns out that they have.

'Frankly, the prime minister must be losing confidence in Phil Twyford - two days in a row new information has come to light which disproves things he's told the media and told Parliament.'