Knife-edge vote gives Aucklanders a say on port privatisation

Wednesday, 6 December 2023

Aucklanders are to get a say on whether the city’s ports operations should be sold off, after a knife-edge vote.

Auckland Council’s budget committee had to decide which parts of mayor Wayne Brown’s proposal for the council’s Long Term Plan, which includes a 10-year budget, would progress to consultation with residents.

The big ticket items in Brown’s proposal include establishing the Auckland Future Fund with a portion ring-fenced for self-insurance, transferring the council’s remaining shares in Auckland International Airport Limited (AIAL) to the fund with their future to be decided by fund managers, and either selling a 35-year lease of Port of Auckland operations or retaining the port in public ownership.

The proposal Brown put forward would see an average rates rise for residential ratepayers of 7.5% in 2024-2025, 3.5% the following year, and an 8% increase in 2026-2027 to factor in the operating costs of the City Rail Link which is due to be running by then.

Wednesday’s meeting started at 10am but came to a grinding halt an hour later when questions to council’s finance staff from Manukau councillor Alf Filipaina established that those rates figures assume the council sells its remaining airport shares and leases port operations.

Those asset sales are core to the mayor’s proposal to establish the Auckland Future Fund, but didn’t find favour with all councillors.

In particular, concern was raised about the ability to protect conditions for port workers and stipulate limits on environmental and climate impacts if its operations arm is sold.

Councillor Julie Fairey said, in principle, she supports the establishment of the Future Fund, but is “not that stoked about where we’re getting the money from”.

Fairey was disappointed councillors outside the investment working group had received little detail about how the fund would work.

“I do feel like we haven’t got the information we need to make a robust decision on that - too much unknowns.”

Fairey was also concerned about being able to progress a deal “in a way that will safeguard workers’ rights”.

“The port’s going really well at the moment, it’s back on track, why would we mess with that?”

Councillor Chris Darby said the port company is experiencing a rebound and he has concerns that the proposal to privatise its operations will disrupt that. However, he supported the proposal going to consultation.

At 5.50pm, just as the vote was about to take place, the rates issue again interrupted the meeting as a staff member delivered papers to councillors with advice on the implications for rates of not going ahead with asset sales.

Councillor Mike Lee, who has been vocal in his opposition to asset sales yelled out: “Whatever the public say, they’re going to go ahead and sell, that’s what is done here.”

Brown responded: “You know that if you don’t consult on that, then the rates will go from 3.5% to 9.2% in the second year.”

When John Watson questioned how councillors could know that was accurate, Brown said: “How do you know tomorrow’s Friday, you just trust.”

Tension that had been building all day broke with the realisation that tomorrow was in fact Thursday.

Minutes later, 11 councillors voted against including the proposal to either retain or privatise port operations in the budget consultation, while 9 councillors, and the mayor, supported its inclusion in the process.

The two Independent Māori Statutory Board members on the budget committee, Tony Kake and David Taipari, both voted in support of the port proposal going to consultation.

In June next year, after the consultation has taken place, only councillors and the mayor will vote on the final budget details.

All aspects of Brown’s budget proposal passed votes to proceed to consultation, including the future of North Harbour Stadium which attracted heated debate from Watson and Wayne Walker.

Aucklanders will get a say on whether they would prefer the stadium maintained with $33m spent on renovations over 10 years, a redevelopment of the stadium precinct, or a change of stadium management to ensure greater use by the community.