Goff Phil: General Debate 
Goff Phil: General Debate 
[Volume:675;Page:21281] 
Hon PHIL GOFF (Leader of the Opposition) 
: 
 Five years ago the Labour Government secured a major achievement for New Zealand: the right to host the Rugby World Cup. That was fantastic. It was a fantastic opportunity to have the Rugby World Cup on our own ground in front of our own supporters and for the All Blacks to win. It was fantastic because it gave us the opportunity to showcase New Zealand to an audience of 4 billion people. It was fantastic because it is likely to bring this country ultimately $1 billion. 
Everything is there to make this cup a huge success. We have the public enthusiasm. We see the Samoan and the Tongan flags flying around my electorate—it is really good. We saw a good opening at the ground and we saw some really good rugby particularly the Wales and South Africa match. But I have to say that last Friday’s debacle really let down New Zealand. We saw the failure of our transport system to deliver the loss of opportunity—a lifetime opportunity—for those folk who had saved for months and months to come to the game from South Auckland the risk that those people were put at and the absolute chaos around the waterfront area. Les Geller who is an intensive care specialist at Auckland City Hospital said we were really lucky that nobody died in that mess. 
I expect the Government to front up to take its share of responsibility and to do something constructive about it. It is not for this Government to put the blame on everybody else. “It was the Auckland super-city’s fault.” Well that Government created it. “It was Auckland Transport.” Well that Government set up the council-controlled organisation and appointed most of the board. Then it was Veolia Transport’s fault and then Mr Key said it was the fault of somebody on the train who pushed the emergency button. Well they pushed the button because kids were fainting old people were ill they had sat there for an hour and the transport system had failed. But the Prime Minister blamed the people in the carriage. 
If anybody should take responsibility it is Prime Minister Key. It was his insistence that the whole focus would be on party central on Queens Wharf. It was not a suitable venue. It was too small. It held 12000 people and we know from Christmas in the Park that several hundred thousand people turn up at these events. Why did the organisers have the fireworks down there why did they have the concert down there when they knew that Michael Barnett had told Murray McCully that probably 150000 people would turn up? They were told. They were warned. It was their idea. Why do they not man up and accept responsibility for it? 
When it comes to accepting responsibility that implies also the responsibility to get it right. So what did Ministers do? They used the empowering legislation not before the event when they could have planned and worked with the council to put in place special measures but after the event as a damage control measure. They then play politics with it by embarrassing and humiliating the council—saying it was the council’s fault—instead of looking for a joint plan of action and working constructively with the super-city to get it right. I tell this Government that it has to get it right. I tell Murray McCully and Steven Joyce that I accepted their assurances that everything was fine. I believed John Key when he said everything was in place. It was not in place. 
There was an absolute failure of ministerial oversight in this. What do we get at the end of that process? This debacle meant that Pacific Islands Forum leaders said they would not go downtown because they feared for their safety it meant that papers from  
The 
Hindu  
and the  
China Post  
to the  
Winnipeg Free Press  
are reporting on New Zealand as a country that failed. That is not what the Labour Government wanted when it secured the Rugby World Cup for New Zealand. It wanted to showcase our beautiful country and say that we are competent that we can run these things. But our Government first of all let us down and then I say to Mr Williamson would not accept responsibility for where it had got it wrong. 
Why was it that we were told by Steven Joyce that there were contingency plans in place for the transport system? There were no contingency plans. This Government has got it wrong. Even in trying to address and clean up the mess those members are still playing politics by blaming everyone but themselves.