Hipkins admits Labour over-promised on transport

Friday, 17 May 2024

Opposition leader Chris Hipkins has admitted his Labour-led Government’s promises of rapid transit for Christchurch were unrealistic.

Answering questions while visiting the city on Thursday, Hipkins acknowledged Labour’s major infrastructure plans became bogged down with business cases and consultants.

“I feel that's what's happened with the transit is that we've had six years of business cases, and nothing to show for it.”

Labour promised commuter rail “within a few years” from Christchurch city to Rolleston during the 2017 election campaign. Before the 2020 election Christchurch MP Megan Woods said she wanted shovels in the ground during that term.

Labour leader Chris Hipkins answered questions about Christchurch’s infrastructure issues when he visited the city this week.

In 2021 then-transport minister Michael Wood confirmed the Government had a “strong commitment” to rapid transit in Christchurch.

Hipkins told reporters from The Press the outcome had been “disappointing”.

He said his party’s platform had been “unrealistic about the timeframe it takes to get those kind of mass rapid transit projects up and running”.

Hipkins blamed the Treasury-driven business case process and “the kind of the self-sustaining consultant ecosystem that has emerged around that”.

“I think there's too much emphasis on that and not enough emphasis on the product that comes out the other end of it.”

Mass rapid transit route according to indicative business case.

The process led to “top heavy” spending in some cases, he said.

Hipkins said he would support either Government tackling the problem. He also said he supports fast-tracking measures, as long as checks and balances are in place.

Both the previous and current Governments have run fast-tracking schemes to get major projects completed.

Last year Hipkins said Canterbury was getting “a reasonable share” of transport funding. That followed his Government allocating $78 million to Christchurch’s public transport projects compared to Auckland’s $45 billion and Wellington’s $4.4b.

The long awaited Brougham St upgrade is indefinitely on hold. Construction on the road, one of Christchurch's busiest, was to start in September. Transport Minister Simeon Brown said the project will only be funded to 'pre-implementation.'

Traffic on Brougham St this week. The Government has shelved an upgrade of the congested state highway.

Greater Christchurch has grown rapidly in recent years and its population is expected to double within the next 60 years.

Data shows Christchurch’s peak-hour driving is the slowest of the main cities, and taxpayer funding for transport alternatives to the car is lowest.

This week the Government announced it was shelving the Labour Government’s project to upgrade Brougham St - the congested state highway link to Lyttelton Port. Work was to have begun this year.

The $90m project included a pedestrian and cycle overbridge, lanes for carpooling, buses and motorcycles, intersection improvements, and a shared pedestrian-cycle path.

Work under way inside pool and sports complex Parakiore. (File photo)

Hipkins acknowledged on Thursday that his Government’s infrastructure spending for the South Island “was a bit light'.

However, the current Government’s priorities on spending for transport, schools and hospitals had “gone backwards in that regard”, he said.

“I think the South Island is just not getting a look in …the South Island is like they don't think it's here.”

Christ Church Cathedral’s restoration has insufficient funds.

Hipkins also said getting Christchurch’s pool and sports centre Parakiore completed “just has to be done”.

The long-delayed Parakiore’s project’s contractor CPB Ltd went to court last year after the Crown rejecting its demands for more time and money.

“One way or the other, we've got to find a way of finishing it,“ Hipkins said.

He likened it to Wellington’s $1.25b Transmission Gully, opened in 2022 after years of construction and cost overruns, and also built by CPB.

He said central government has “lost its capability to manage large infrastructure projects effectively”.

“I think there's a problem with the contracting model for large infrastructure projects - we're not very good at it. It comes back to the consultant contractor kind of model … the people on both sides of the table are often contractors.”

Hipkins also said the Government should make sure the (now heavily under-funded) Christ Church Cathedral restoration gets done.

“I wouldn’t necessarily say the Government should stump up with all of the money, but the Government should certainly be a partner in the process of making sure that money is found.”