Prime Minister John Key has outlined a plan to make an early start on the main works of Auckland's $2.5 billion City rail link in 2018.
In a state of the nation speech to the Chamber of Commerce in Auckland this afternoon, Mr Key said the Government will work with Auckland Council to bring forward a business plan and formalise Government funding from 2020.
"It's become clear that we need to provide certainty for other planned CBD developments affected by the rail link," Mr Key said.
Mr Key said the council had indicated this would allow construction of the rail link main works to start in 2018 - two years earlier than envisaged.
It would also allow the council to get on with negotiating contracts, give investors certainly for other important projects in the CBD and reduce disruption in the central city.
A number of important and quite complex issues still needed to be worked through with the council, Mr Key said.
"These include how project costs will finally be shared between the Government and the council and how the rail link will be owned and managed.
"Providing these issues are resolved, and I'm confident they can be, we'll aim to finalise the business plan later this year," Mr Key said.
Me Key also announced an east-west connection between Onehunga and Mt Wellington, considered a project of national significance by the Government and costing more than $1 billion, would go through a streamlined consenting process to bring forward construction.
The Government intended it to be funded through the land transport fund so construction could start as early as 2018.
Mr Key said about $4.2 billion would be invested in transport in and around Auckland over the next three years.
Mayor Len Brown welcomed the Government announcement saying it provided certainty over funding for the city rail link.
"To reach our vision of Auckland being the world's most liveable city we need this to happen. Aucklanders have been waiting for the CRL for decades and it's been my number one priority since my first Auckland Council mayoral campaign."
Planning on the rail link started under the former Auckland Regional Council and has been progressed under Mr Brown and the Auckland Council.
The first preliminary works began before Christmas and work on beginning the link from Britomart and up Albert St to Wyndham St is due to begin in May.
Main works on an underground tunnel from the Mt Eden end of the link are planned to start in 2018.
Auckland Transport figures show that last year rail patronage increased 22.9%, or 2.9 million trips, to 15.4 million.
Mr Key also stressed the importance of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement in his state of the nation address today.
"So it really is unthinkable that any responsible government would now walk away from the TTP," he told more than 450 people at the Chamber of Commerce lunch in Auckland.
"It will be New Zealand's biggest free trade agreement, giving our exporters much better access to more than 800 million customers in 11 countries across Asia and the Pacific," Key said.
"It will eliminate tariffs on 93% of exports to our new FTA partners - the United States, Japan, Canada, Mexico and Peru. Successive New Zealand governments have worked had to achieve this for 25 years. They knew it would help diversify and grow the economy," he said.
Labour comes out swinging
Labour leader Andrew Little accused the Government of acting too slowly, saying its commitment should have been made five years ago.
"Today's announcement will be a relief for Auckland's frustrated commuters who have endured years of clogged roads while the Government sat back and criticised this vital transport link," he said.
"But it's typical of this Government that they had to be dragged kicking and screaming to get to this point."
He said National's lack of ambition had held back growth and prosperity in Auckland, costing jobs and strangling businesses.
"[Mr Key's] annual State of the Nation speech today featured only a last-minute announcement of something the rest of New Zealand has been calling for for years."
Labour also said John Key has failed to deliver on education "promises" made two years ago.
The party's education spokesman Chris Hipkins quoted figures showing the Government's flagship education policy, Investing in Educational Success, was well behind schedule.
"This funding has been sitting in the Government's coffers when it could have been going to helping our children's learning and relieving the growing funding pressures on schools," he said.
He said the "failure" of the Investing in Educational Success initiative was one of the factors that contributed to last year's Government surplus.
The $359 million policy, introduced in 2014, aims to create "communities of learning" throughout the country, encouraging schools to work together and share expertise.
It also contains funding for new teaching and leadership roles, inquiry time, research and principal recruitment.
It was pegged to cost $5.5 million in 2014/2015 and $74 million in this financial year, with the remaining money spent over the next two years.
However, Mr Hipkins said this morning figures showed only $4.7 million has been spent so far. Of that $983,000 was spent in the last financial year, and $3.8m this year. If the project was on schedule, that figure would be around $50 million, he said.
Minister of Education Hekia Parata said the delay in spending was due to industrial negotiations aiming to secure full sector support "and to give schools time to build relationships before they engage in the development of their achievement challenges".
The Ministry of Education was now re-phasing funding to reflect the delay in appointments to the new roles and the related payment of additional allowances, the minister said.
Funding was also being reorganised to meet the higher-than-expected number of schools forming "communities of learning". So far, 789 schools had signed up, or about one third of all schools in the country.
The Ministry of Education's Head of Sector Enablement and Support Katrina Casey refuted allegations the policy implementation was behind schedule.
She said IES was now travelling at pace, with 11 communities having challenges endorsed.
To date almost 90 principals and teachers had been appointed to the new roles, Ms Casey said.
However Mr Hipkins said claiming the delays weren't the Government's fault was shifting the blame.
"It only goes to show their incompetence at implementing new ideas in the education sphere, along with the Novopay disaster and charter schools," he said.
"As John Key announces more promises in his latest speech, he's still not delivering on the promises he made two years ago."
