Archive for May, 2009

Infrastructure Unit To Nail Down PPP Potential

Transport Minister Steven Joyce says the newly established Infrastructure Unit, within Treasury, will be key to developing the potential of PPPs to fund transport projects. He came away from his Aust trip last week with a sense of the “hierarchy of procurement models” of which PPPs are just one option. Sydney offers an immediate case […]

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Rest of country will pay for Waterview - Hughes

The Govt is being accused by Labour of using “smoke and mirrors” funding arrangements for completing the Waterview Connection and this will inevitably have a serious impact on the rest of NZ. Labour transport spokesperson, Darren Hughes, says, “No one in their right minds can believe that there are no funding costs associated with National’s […]

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Port Chairman calls for Govt action on ports

Port of Tauranga chairman, John Parker, appears on a collision course with transport Minister, Steven Joyce, on the role of Govt in reshaping the country’s ports. Parker believes some council-owned ports are performing badly and the Govt should give them a “nudge” and facilitate port rationalisation. “Most ports make truly abysmal financial returns on their […]

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Infrastructure unit to broker deals

The new infrastructure unit based in the treasury will be expected to broker deals between investors and infrastructure projects, giving the private sector broader access to roading and other major developments. According to Finance Minister, Bill English’s office the infrastructure unit’s brief “will be deliberately wide.”
Tower Investments CEO, Sam Stubbs, has proposed Public […]

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ARTA chairman contender for Auckland transition

Old allegiances break down in times of reform. Auckland Regional Transport Authority chairman, Mark Ford, a veteran of the city’s infrastructure services, is tipped for the five-person Auckland transition agency, which is to oversee the restructuring. Transport Minister, Steven Joyce, will only say Ford “seems like a nice man” though reports Ford lobbied Joyce for […]

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Inter island cargo service study gets funding

A roll on-roll off cargo ferry service between New Plymouth and Nelson has just moved a step closer. The Govt is awarding $250,000 to Port Taranaki to help fund a feasibility study into a western seaboard coastal shipping operation involving the ports of Bluff, Nelson, Greymouth, New Plymouth and Onehunga.
Port Taranaki CEO, Roy Weaver, says […]

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Review pits motorists against truckies

Transport Minister, Steven Joyce, sums up the issues raised by the review of Road User Charges (RUCs) as “unexploded ordnance left over from the previous Govt.” Five major groups are lobbying over the way roading costs are apportioned between road users. “I’m hearing the full 360 degrees of opinion,” says Joyce, who has asked officials […]

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Govt buries Waterview tunnel option

The Govt has put the kybosh on the previous administration’s $2.77bn proposal for a twin-tunnel Waterview Connection saying it is too expensive, shaving more than $1bn off the cost of completing Auckland’s Western Ring Route. It will also shorten the construction timeframe by 12 months. The 5km motorway should be completed by 2015.
NZ Transport Agency […]

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Winners and losers among regional airports

Air NZ has confirmed it has embarked on a review of its regional network to maintain competitiveness “in the current tough market.” It has tapped Air Nelson GM, John Hambleton, to lead the review, which will focus on maximising synergies between the Air Nelson, Eagle Air and Mount Cook Airline units.
Key to the way […]

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Inter island cargo service study gets funding

A roll on-roll off cargo ferry service between New Plymouth and Nelson has just moved a step closer. The Govt is awarding $250,000 to Port Taranaki to help fund a feasibility study into a western seaboard coastal shipping operation involving the ports of Bluff, Nelson, Greymouth, New Plymouth and Onehunga.
Port Taranaki CEO, Roy Weaver, says […]

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