Transport Minister Phil Twyford embroiled in second 'secret letter' fiasco

Thursday, 4 June 2020

Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters says the trans-Tasman bubble will be here sooner than people think.

Transport Minister Phil Twyford is refusing to release correspondence he's received from his coalition partner NZ First relating to the Auckland light rail project.

NZ First has publicly said work on the project has been 'suspended,' but Twyford claims a Cabinet paper, which would pave the way for work to start, is a matter of weeks away.

Sources within the Government say NZ First is blocking the proposal and the correspondence, which came from the Office of NZ First leader Winston Peters, could detail the party's position on the project.

Publicly, Peters will only say that work isn't happening in the immediate term.

'Light rail is a plan that the costs have blown out massively for,' Peters said.

Transport Minister Phil Twyford has not read a letter from the Office of Winston Peters about light rail.

* Transport Minister Phil Twyford says light rail on the way, but Winston Peters disagrees

* Associate Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter wanted tunnel project delayed

National's Transport spokesman Chris Bishop said it was 'staggering' Twyord hadn't bothered to read the email.

Twyford refuses to make the correspondence public, telling Parliament on Thursday it was not in the public interest to release it.

Opposition Transport spokesman Chris Bishop said the fiasco echoed the 'secret letter' saga which last year embroiled Twyford and Associate Transport Minister Julie-Anne Genter.

That saga related to a letter sent by Genter to Twyford which set out her position as Green Party transport spokesperson, on the second Mt Victoria tunnel.

It's believed to by the reason why that particular project has been pushed back in the sequencing of Wellington transport projects, meaning it would not be built for at least 10 years.

Associate Transport Minister Julie-Anne Genter sent a letter last year which set out her position as Green Party transport spokesperson, about the second Mt Victoria tunnel.

Bishop asked Twyford to divulge the contents of the email in the House on Thursday.

Twyford said that he had received an email from the Office of Peters on February 29 as part of coalition consultation on the issue but that it was not in the public interest to 'disclose cross-party discussions'.

He later said that he hadn't actually seen the email and that it was dealt with by his staff.

Bishop said that it was 'staggering' that the 'Deputy Prime Minister would send the Minister of Transport an email about his flagship project, know Labour's first election promise, and Phil Twyford hasn't bothered to read the email'.

Bishop said Twyford had been given advance notice of his question, and should have read the email in preparation for answering to the House.

Twyford was briefed on the contents of the email by his staff, but did not read it himself.

'How does he know it's not in the public interest to disclose what's in the email if he hasn't read it. I just think it's baffling and it's a new low of ministerial incompetence,' Bishop said.

Stuff understands the email was sent by Jon Johansson, NZ First chief of staff and close confidant of Peters.

Currently, the Government is weighing up whether NZTA, the transport infrastructure agency, will build the project, or whether it will be outsourced to NZ Infra, a joint-venture between the NZ Super Fund and CDPQ Infra, part of a Canadian pension fund.

Stuff has been told the pre-Cabinet process is ongoing, and Twyford told Parliament on Thursday that it was his intention to put a paper to Cabinet ahead of the pre-election period which begins on June 19.

It's important for Twyford to submit the paper ahead of this time as it is a convention for the Government not to make large decisions in the three months ahead of the election.

There are only two more Cabinet meetings before that date, giving Twyford very little time to get his paper over the line.