The Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First and Member of Parliament elect for Northland, accused recently Ports of Auckland management as short sighted, given how wedded it remains to expanding the Port deep into the Waitemata Harbor.
“ According to the Port’s CEO there is going to be some ‘paradigm shift’ enabling the Port of Auckland to cope with any and all future freight, ” said Mr Peters.
“ That view is dreamtime. The only way the Port will be able to cope into the future is by turning the Waitemata Harbor into a canal and continuously dredging the Rangitoto channel to keep it clear for super-Panamax container ships.
“That’s not a future either Aucklanders or Northlanders wish to see, when New Zealand’s best deep water port at Northport is one of our most underutilized.
“This is why New Zealand First will be bringing forward a Bill to constrain the Port of Auckland to its current physical footprint ,” concluded Peters.
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