Minister of Transport Simeon Brown visiting the site of William Robert's Road, the latest completion in the Eastern Busway project. Photo: RNZ / Maia Ingoe
Auckland Council has agreed to seek a major busway for the city be fully funded by central government.
The governing body's Transport Committee met on Thursday to go over the consequences of removing the Regional Fuel Tax, which the government announced it would scrap.
Legislation to do so passed with support from coalition parties late Wednesday night. About $360 million of funds remain from the tax.
Legislation enables allocation to Eastern Busway, electric trains and stabling, other City Rail Link Day 1 works and road corridor improvement projects.
It also includes operational expenditure for additional bus services on the Eastern Busway and additional train services along the Eastern, Western, and Southern lines.
Auckland Transport chief executive Dean Kimpton said the consequences of removing the Regional Fuel Tax may extend beyond projects funded by the tax.
Auckland Transport chief executive Dean Kimpton. Photo: Supplied / Mark Tantrum
He said they would be reallocating investment where it made sense to do so.
"Where those projects, formerly funded by Regional Fuel Tax, have a high [benefit-to-cost ratio] and better strategic alignment, then it may be a non-RFT funded project that gets descoped, delayed, or stopped," he said.
As discussions continued, councillor Julie Fairey proposed an amendment that council endorse the continuation of Regional Fuel Tax funding allocation for the electric trains and stabling project, and support the completion of the Eastern Busway stages two and three with the stipulation that council seek full funding for the busway from central government.
She said she was not comfortable with the government setting out priorities for council.
"What I'm uncomfortable with is the fact that we have a situation here where central government is effectively telling us what we will and won't prioritise in our own city, when we've already gone through extensive processes with our community over many years," she said.
"And now we're being told we have less funding, and that we have to spend it on a specific project that central government prefer, which happens to align with some people's electorate boundaries, and I find that an unfortunate coincidence."
Councillor Julie Fairey Photo: RNZ/ The Detail - Sharon Brettkelly
Fairey said the amendment gave council a chance to send a message to government.
"It potentially gives us a chance to say back to government 'actually, Auckland Council, Auckland residents, decide our own destiny in regard these matters, and if this is a project that is so important to you that you will cut our RFT funding for a wide range of projects that we need across the city, but maintain this, and effectively drain our chances of spending what little remaining we have on projects of a priority to us'.
"'If it's that important to you, then you should pay for it,'" she said.
"This seeks to advocate that point to [government], and give them a chance to put their money where their mouth is."
The amendment was met with mixed emotions, with some councillors immediately voicing their support, and others needing a little more convincing.
Councillor Shane Henderson was one of the former, urging his colleagues to vote the amendment through.
"This is a situation where Regional Fuel Tax may have been pulled, huge gap the public purse without much warning at all, save for an election I suppose, with no chance of a replacement at all, and also, furthermore, we're being told what to do with what we have left," he said.
"Goodness, we're moving way too fast here."
Henderson said it was chilling that council had not had a chance to discuss the implications of removing the tax until that meeting.
"We're not here to sit around and wait for central government to tell us what to do," he said.
"The communities tell us what to do, they're the ones that elected us, they're the ones that tell us their priorities and it is our job to enact them.
"I'm sitting here feeling pretty disempowered, feeling like maybe I should pack my lunch up and go home because a lot of the decisions are being made for us."
Councillor Josephine Bartley said she was conflicted.
Councillor Josephine Bartley Photo: supplied
"The Eastern Busway is needed, I don't want to see it jeopardised because we're trying to send a political message to the government who cut the Regional Fuel Tax," she said.
"I don't know where I'm at on this, because I can also respect the position that the councillors are trying to take here with sending this message to the government, that it isn't about risking the Eastern Busway, it's about the other projects that we can't get done because they cut the RFT.
"So, I'm really not sure where I'm at on this," Bartley said.
Council voted in favour of the amendment, 11 to six, with councillors Wayne Walker and Greg Sayers, and mayor Wayne Brown, abstaining.
The governing body then unanimously voted through the recommendation to endorse funding allocation.
Auckland Transport is expected to carry out a rapid review of the capital programme, and will re-prioritise implementation to reflect reduced capital funding and pending funding impacts from the GPS.
The Regional Fuel Tax officially ends on 30 June.
Simeon Brown, minister for Local Government, Transport and Auckland, said in a statement: "The Eastern Busway is an Auckland Transport led project which is funded through the National Land Transport Fund and has also received additional Crown funding for its completion.
"The government has legislated that remaining Auckland Regional Fuel Tax revenue is spent on this project, new City Rail Link trains and stabling, and local roading upgrades.
"Overall, this means the project is receiving significant funding from the government and it is expected that the council will fund its remaining share of these costs."
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