Simeon Brown: Transport Minister on the changes to Auckland Transport, the new regional transport committee

The Transport Minister says changes to Auckland Transport have been a long time coming.  

Auckland Transport will have its right to make decisions about policy, planning, and strategy taken away.  

A new regional transport committee will be formed with the goal of creating a 30-year transport plan.  

Simeon Brown told Mike Hosking AT took the news well.  

He's spoken with the Chief Executive who's keen to help make the transition. 

LISTEN ABOVE 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Grand All Day in Auckland is one of the
cities more disliked operations. Auckland Transport got a fair bit
of power taken off them and it will be transferred
back to the council. We need some laws passed to
make it all happen and that is the job of
the Transport Minister, Simming and Brown who is with us morning?

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Good morning mite?

Speaker 1 (00:14):
Do they and I watched the I watched the press
conference live yesterday, so I know your answer. But helped
me out a little bit here when you went to
them at and said this is happening one it can't
have been a surprise, but did they did they arc
up a bit?

Speaker 2 (00:27):
Now? I think the reality is this is this is
a conversation which has been going on to some time
and they spoke to the CE He was very tend
to work with us. How we implement this and make
sure it works well. Our job now is to get
the legislation drafted in the House through Parliament and then
implement it for Auckland, to make sure that Auckland does
have more will have democratic accountability over decisions made in

(00:49):
the city which affect their daily lives.

Speaker 1 (00:51):
That was the part that I was disappointed and why
is this so slow? You're going to draw the legislation up,
put it and send it off to select committees taking forever.

Speaker 2 (00:58):
Well, that's the part of mitary process, so it does
take time. But today's about sending Verukeley message around the
decisions that have been made. We've got a busy legislative
agenda as a government, so we're going through Parliament next
year and then it'll be up to the new council
elected in the next year to implement it.

Speaker 1 (01:17):
What was the was the weak point that at was
so useless? Would you have still done it no matter
how good AT were or not.

Speaker 2 (01:26):
I think a key thing here is every other region
across New Zealand, decisions around who approves the regional land
transport plan, the road controlling authority, those decisions sit with
elected members. In Auckland, it does not, So this is
actually a principal decision to restore democracy to those decisions
and allow Aucklanders if they don't like the fact that

(01:46):
their local board or their counselors are removing some car
parks to put in a cycle way, they can vote
them out. At the moment they don't have that ability
and the Verukeley messages as Aucklanders aren't happy with the
decisions that have made. They all know who's responsible and
we've got to hold them to account for those decisions.

Speaker 1 (02:02):
So the disappoints. So I agree with that concept. But
the disappointing part is what about all the dumpty doos
on the local board who rightly or wrongly you elect
idiots in general. And so you've got people who are
now with tremendous power in their hands, and they may
or may not be up to it.

Speaker 2 (02:17):
Well, the problem is these people haven't had power that's
been there to be sort of an advocacy kind of body,
which is go around advocating for things they like. Now
they're going to have power, and now the local people
who vote for them will know who to blame for
decisions in their local community and directly hold them to account.
And I encourage people to put their names forward and
I encourage people to make sure they hold these people

(02:40):
to account. At the moment, they don't have that ability
in that power in Auckland. We're restoring it and putting
it in local people's hands.

Speaker 1 (02:46):
Understand that, But how variable will it be and how
much individual and specific power do they have because a
local board out west is not a local board down
south or out east or up north and Lolton it's
a big city direct.

Speaker 2 (02:57):
Yeah. So one of the key things will be there'll
be some some parts of the road controlling authority which
will have a regional Impactso for example Keith Roots. Obviously
those decisions need be made at a regional level, so
that will be done by the anybody what happens on
a local street with some local shops and the car
parks outside it, Ultimately that's a local decision that should
be pushed down to the local board. So that's actually

(03:17):
the principle already set in the Local Government Act for Auckland.
It just hasn't been implemented and this is going to
formalize that into legislation.

Speaker 1 (03:24):
All right, good to talk to you appreciate it. So
I mean Brown Transport Minister with us this morning.

Speaker 2 (03:28):
For more from the Mic Asking Breakfast, listen live to
news talks there'd be from six am weekdays, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio.