Ports of Auckland under threat from secret SuperCity agenda

The Mar­itime Union says it is con­cerned about the inten­tions of the Gov­ern­ment towards Auck­land’s pub­lic assets under the pro­posed SuperCi­ty.

The union rep­re­sents sev­er­al hun­dred work­ers at the Ports of Auck­land, which pro­vides a major income to the peo­ple of Auck­land who own the port through the Auck­land Region­al Coun­cil.

Mar­itime Union Local 13 Sec­re­tary Rus­sell Mayn says there has been an ongo­ing “soft­en­ing up” cam­paign from big busi­ness inter­ests to sell off the Ports of Auck­land so they can get their hands on them.

He says there is seri­ous cause for con­cern that the SuperCi­ty plan for Auck­land’s local gov­ern­ment will be used to push for­ward pri­va­ti­za­tion of assets — includ­ing the port.

“Min­is­ter of Local Gov­ern­ment Rod­ney Hide has made it very clear that he favours sell offs of the peo­ple’s assets which could see the ports along with land, infra­struc­ture and water as monop­o­lies owned by over­seas cor­po­ra­tions.”

The fact that these assets are region­al and local assets, not state assets, pro­vides an escape clause from the Prime Min­is­ter John Key’s promise not to pri­va­tize any pub­lic assets in this term of the Gov­ern­ment.

Mr Mayn says the evi­dence shows the major­i­ty of Auck­lan­ders are opposed to pri­va­ti­za­tion of local assets.

“The Mar­itime Union will strong­ly advo­cate for keep­ing pub­lic assets such as the Ports of Auck­land in pub­lic hands.”

He says the Mar­itime Union is sup­port­ing Auck­land MP Phil Twyford’s Local Gov­ern­ment (Pro­tec­tion of Auck­land Assets) Amend­ment Bill and the “Not Yours To Sell” cam­paign to keep Auck­land’s pub­lic assets in pub­lic hands.