Ardern warns Auckland port not viable long-term

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says shifting Auckland’s port operations away from its downtown site is not a question of if, “but where and when”. 

Ardern made the comment at her post-Cabinet news conference on December 9. Closing Ports of Auckland (POAL) would likely see car imports being handled at either Northport or the Port of Tauranga.

The Cabinet has been pondering the Upper North Island supply chain study, which recommends a move to Northport, but is still some way of making a final decision.

Ardern said Regional Development Minister Shane Jones will release the study on December 12 and detail the next steps in the process. The PM, pictured above, suggested more work was needed before ministers could sign off on moving the port, reports NBR.

“The real question to properly assess is not if but where it will be relocated to and when,” she said. “I do not believe the current site is viable into the future.”

New Zealand First is keen to move the port north, as well as build a new dry dock there and upgrade the rail line to transport goods from an expanded port.

An NZIER report commissioned by Ports of Auckland, which opposes plans to close its operations, says shifting to Northport would cost the economy more than $1 billion a year.

POAL chief executive Tony Gibson has criticised the supply chain study and says any move would cost the public more and increase greenhouse gas emissions.

Lobby group Waterfront 2029, which wants to see the port moved, commended the government for concluding the port in the Auckland CBD is no longer viable.

“For far too long, political leaders have procrastinated on the Auckland port issue with endless report writing,” spokesman Michael Goldwater says.

“Too many of those reports have been hijacked by vested interests but the one consensus that has emerged is that the car and container port in Auckland’s CBD is not sustainable.

“The Prime Minister and her Cabinet have shown strong and decisive leadership by accepting that consensus and being prepared to act on it.”