The other problem the Council needs to address is the Ports of Auckland.
First, two council reports from Cameron and Partners and EY recommend selling down the Council holding by forty nine per cent – that could net you around a billion dollars in profit and, if the mixed ownership model of the power companies is anything to judge by, you can retain pretty much the same level of earnings at the same time. Let’s see the figures for doing that and even the port would agree we desperately need the commercial advantage that a partial float would give us.
Here’s an idea. It is simply done. You can split the Port of Auckland into two parts. One part is the land which should remain 100% owned by the people of Auckland. The second part is the Operating Company of the Port. That can become a mixed ownership model with 49% owned by shareholders.
Secondly, do we want our city’s foreshore to stay a giant car-yard forever cluttered with a mess of cars, containers and cranes blocking us off from the sea? We need to research immediately what can be done to shift the port sometime over the next couple of decades. Do the research, shift the port and give us our beautiful harbour back so we can all enjoy it. Sydney did it, London’s done it and it can be done.