Indian Newslink 15th June 2016 Digital Edition

JUNE 15, 2016
Budget 2016 leaves
Auckland high and dry
With Auckland’s housing crisis making
headlines and the high levels of frustration
with growing traffic congestion in the City, the
time was right for the government to respond
with some big initiatives in its recent budget.
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Phil Goff
I
had big hopes for the Budget.
Along with the business community
and many others in Auckland, I was
however left disappointed.
There was nothing in the Budget that
will make any real difference to stopping
the City’s transport and housing problems
getting worse by the day.
Quality spending
It was not that I had unrealistic expectations
of the government.
Every year in the 15 years I served as
a Cabinet Minister, I participated in the
Budget process. I know that you cannot
operate on wish lists.
The government has to pay for major
programmes. You have to learn to do
more with less. The Finance Minister and
every other Minister has to exercise fiscal
responsibility, balance the books and ensure
quality spending.
However, Budgets are also about priorities.
They are about dealing with
problems that hold back our economic
productivity and cause huge public
frustration.
On both of these measures, transport
and housing ought to have been at the top
of the Finance Minister’s priorities.
Missed flight
The Minister knows from what the
Productivity Commission and the Council
for Infrastructure Development have told
him that worsening traffic congestion
wastes around $3 billion a year in lost
productivity and other costs.
As well, it causes all of us wasted time
and frustration.
Last fortnight, for only the second time
in over 30 years of catching an early
morning flight to Parliament, I missed the
plane. A trip that should take half an hour
took an hour and 10 minutes because the
roads leading on to the motorway at 630
am were gridlocked.
CRL vital
The City Rail Link which will double
the number of people who are able to go
to work by rail and ease road congestion
is still five years off because Government
delayed their decision to contribute to it
by five years. Building new busways and
creating light rail which we need now to
ease congestion on the roads are not happening.
No finance has been set aside for
them.
With the fastest population growth taking
place in Auckland for decades, 800
extra people a week are coming into
Auckland. There were another 42,000 cars
on the road last year. Congestion should
not be a surprise.
What surprises is that the City’s population
has been allowed to grow without
putting housing and transport infrastructure
in place to cope with that growth.
Quality declining
People want to come to live in Auckland
because of the quality of life here. But
with gridlocked streets and unaffordable
and insufficient houses, we will quickly
lose the quality of life that makes
Auckland a great place to be.
There was capital funding in the Budget
for roading in Gisborne, Marlborough
and Taranaki where population growth is
slow or non-existent, but no capital funding
for Auckland’s transport.
On the housing front, the Government
put money aside to pay for some emergency
housing beds that already exist,
but there was nothing to tackle the real
problems.
The media has been highlighting cases
of rampant speculation in Auckland housing.
One Beach Haven property went up
$175,000 in 10 weeks recently. That is an
extra $2300 a day.
That provides a great profit for someone,
but at the expense of a family who
desperately want to buy their own home.
$17 billion needed
Auckland City needs $17 billion in roading,
water and other infrastructure to
service new houses needing to be built
around the region.
Currently the City has very limited ability
to raise that money. Government rules
stop it from borrowing the money.
The money cannot come out of rates.
Even if rates were to be massively increased,
which they should not be, each
1% rise in rates only raises $14 million.
What we need is long-term low interest
Infrastructure Bonds to meet the cost of
providing vital services. Servicing interest
on that debt will probably need to come
out of road charging.
Auckland Council has to do better and
allow the City to move up and out to cater
for the housing needs of the extra 700,000
people expected in Auckland over the
next 30 years. But the government cannot
avoid its responsibility.
Only the Central government has the
tools necessary to solve the housing crisis,
such as addressing speculative pressures
and inaugurating a major programme to
build affordable houses.
Auckland Council and the government
should stop blaming each other and work
together to resolve the crisis that is hurting
more and more Aucklanders.
Phil Goff is former Foreign Affairs,
Trade and Justice Minister and has
been Member of Parliament for 35
years. Elected from Mt Roskill, he is
today Labour Party’s Spokesperson
for Defence and Ethnic Communities.
Mr Goff is a Mayoral candidate for
Auckland, postal voting for which will
be held from September 16 to mid-day
on October 8, 2016.
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