How should the council respond on two key fronts?

Tuesday, 30 June 2026

Warriors fans march down Cashel St to One NZ Stadium for the Cowboys match on June 21, demonstrating the intensity of rugby league fervour in the South Island, backing the case for a South Island NRL franchise. It’s not the council’s role to “play sugar daddy” for a league franchise, Mike Yardley says.

Mike Yardley is a Christchurch-based writer and commentator on current affairs, and a regular opinion contributor.

OPINION: A swirl of intrigue, alarm and uncertainty surrounds two big Christchurch proposals.

After months of speculation, the Tōnui consortium has emerged from the shadows, pitching an unsolicited bid for operating control of Lyttelton Port.

Alongside that murky manoeuvring, should the Christchurch City Council (CCC) be actively involved in seeking to secure a Christchurch-based franchise to compete in the NRL?

Undeniably, rugby league fever is on a roll in the South. The depth of league fan frenzy was writ large 10 days ago with the Warriors in town for the North Queensland Cowboys clash at One New Zealand Stadium.

Read more:

I have no issue with the city council seeking to bang heads and bring about one unified Christchurch-based bid from the two rival proposals. Civic leadership could be a useful balm, but I would draw the line at public funding being deployed in the form of inducements or subsidies for the venture. Concerns have been aroused from reports that the NRL is advising potential ventures of the need for “community backing”, rather than solely relying on private ownership.

City councillors Andrei Moore and Aaron Keown are passionately championing the prospect of Christchurch playing host to a second New Zealand NRL team. Keown, who also sits on the board of Venues Ōtautahi, tells me “the CCC should be working as tightly as it can with the NRL to help facilitate it”.

But how much skin should the council have in the game?

Keown says “the CCC can help with providing and sharing some of our fabulous facilities”. Meanwhile, Moore is “open-minded on what involvement could look like. We can’t afford to be reliant on only filling the stadium with one-off events that all require significant incentive money. Securing long-term tenants that guarantee revenue every year is an obvious next step.”

You’ll be aware the Perth Bears are to enter the NRL next year. That deal is underpinned by the Western Australian government’s $85 million funding package, including $65m over seven years to establish the club and invest in grassroots league.

But it’s not our council’s role to play sugar daddy for a professional league franchise or underwrite it.

Finance and performance committee chair Cr Sam MacDonald is thankfully hosing down any hypothetical expectations of financial contributions. “The city has stumped up hundreds of millions for a stadium. In my mind, that would hopefully help attract people to want to invest in Christchurch,” he tells me.

A sign protesting a bid for a long-term operating licence of Lyttelton Port.

Meanwhile, Christchurch City Holdings Ltd (CCHL) is currently considering the unsolicited bid from the Tōnui consortium for a long-term operating licence of Lyttelton Port. Comprising DP World and three Ngāi Tahu rūnanga, it’s an audacious pitch which I certainly wouldn’t reject out of hand – if the price is right.

The joint venture’s bid offers an alternative pathway to funding future growth, enhancing port performance, bolstering supply chain resilience and strengthening the South Island’s economic prospects.

It would ensure the port’s strategic land and assets remained vested in public ownership.

Just how long have the Ngāi Tahu rūnanga been quietly in cahoots with the Dubai-based DP World? Dr Liz Brown, spokesperson for Tōnui on behalf of rūnanga, revealed to Tahu News that they’ve been in discussions since “August 2024”.

Who approached whom? Have the rūnanga received any financial sweeteners from DP World to cloak their bid in cultural legitimacy? My questions to Dr Brown haven’t been answered.

Meanwhile, MacDonald expects CCHL chair Bryan Pearson and his team to provide a “professional assessment of any bids to ensure they are meeting their obligations as company directors”.

In tandem with Tōnui’s bid for operating control, CCHL is also deliberating on Lyttelton Port Company’s pitch for an $800 million expansion at Te Awaparahi Bay.

MacDonald warns a broader conversation is needed on how we fund any further expansion of the port, along with Orion’s capital requirements. “At some point, something will have to give.” Cue, the divestment of Enable.

But here’s the kicker. MacDonald reiterates the mayor’s election commitment not to support selling or leasing the port. “I have full confidence that CCHL will run in lockstep with the expectations set by the council.”

Despite the global clout, connectivity and proven performance of DP World as a port operator, the Tōnui bid looks dead in the water.