The Chief Executive of New Zealand’s largest port (handling 43 per cent of New Zealand’s total export volumes), Mark Cairns, said the progress report raised a number of themes and issues in the port industry and New Zealand freight network.
“The progress report identifies well-known issues such as the need for increased investment in road and rail networks and the historic financial under-performance and inconsistent reporting by some ports,” he said.
“We challenge some of the facts, assumptions and implications in the interim report, and we’re hopeful these will be addressed before the next report due in June. For example, the report states that the Bay of Plenty and Waikato have benefitted from rail infrastructure and investment provided by the Government at no capital cost to the end user. This ignores the $267 million in rail costs paid by Port of Tauranga since 2010.”
“We look forward to hosting the working group on their first visit to Port of Tauranga in the coming months,” said Mr Cairns.
